A new Army leadership guide focuses on how to recognize early signs of severe personal or family issues that could be reduced or resolved through intervention.

Called the Leaders’ Guide for Building Personal Readiness and Resilience, the digital pamphlet is a product of the Army Resiliency Directorate, an effort known as R2 that attempts to strengthen Army readiness and unit cohesion by concentrating on efforts to improve personal readiness and make it possible for soldiers to perform at optimum levels by addressing physical, psychological, social, spiritual and family problems.

“Warning signs are those life situations, characteristics, and stressors that indicate an immediate risk of accident, injury, or death in the near term,” the guide says. “Warning signs cannot be ignored.”

Warnings include increased use of alcohol or drugs, reckless but legal behavior, sudden and unexplained mood changes for the better or worse, and sudden withdrawal from social situations, the guide says.

“If soldiers and leaders recognize these signs, they can engage to prevent serious outcomes, up to and including suicide and homicide. They can occur after a trigger event, a short-term crisis like a relationship change or misconduct, when hopeless individuals conclude that a permanent negative outcome may be the only option. However, it is important to remember that the reasons someone could reach a point of crisis are complex,” the guide says.

It provides guidance on how to spot problems and where to get help.

A copy of the guide is available here.