Here’s the column I’ve been hinting about for ages. I couldn’t squeeze everything into my word count, but I did try to hit the highlights.
Sex Drive: Tech Helps Soldiers Cope with Invisible Wounds of War
Some war injuries are obvious at first glance, like missing limbs or facial burn scars. Others remain invisible to the casual eye — post-traumatic stress disorder, brain injuries, broken hearts.
Yes, broken hearts. The recent Army Suicide Report revealed that in 2007, 50 percent of suicides among active duty personnel occurred just after their partners broke up with them, and cites “failed intimate relationships” as the most common reason for suicide attempts even after soldiers return home.
The military does not have a fabulous track record for making sex and relationships a priority, other than promoting heterosexual marriage and families as the foundation of stability and an ideal worth defending. Yet how can you simultaneously encourage marriage while ignoring the emotional toll of deployment and combat on a relationship?
I can think of a number of things I would recommend that all branches of the military do, including sending personnel to sex and relationship workshops that will give people tools to stay connected and nurture relationships during the stresses of service, whether long-distance or living together, with a particular emphasis on issues only military people face. All that touchy-feely stuff that makes Wired nervous probably scares the bejeezus out of the military, but I think ultimately it would have a positive effect not just on the individuals who take advantage of the offer but on the military as a whole.
