SUICIDES UP AMONG U.S. SOLDIERS
The number of soldiers who committed suicide increased 15 percent from 2005 to 2006, according to an Army report.
Ref. https://www.cnn.com/2007/US/08/15/soldier.suicide/index.html
Truly this is tragic that troopers are so depressed as to take their own lives. To be killed in line of duty is bad enough but I can not imagine the reaction of the families when they are told the bad news.
International Level: Senior Politician / Political Participation: 188 18.8%
From the Article
QUOTE |
In 2006, the overall suicide rate for the United States was 13.4 per 100,000 people. It was 21.1 per 100,000 people for all men aged 17 to 45, compared to a rate of 17.8 for men in the Army. |
QUOTE |
As of June 30, 2007, 44 soldiers had committed suicide |
International Level: Politician / Political Participation: 109 10.9%
Vets who kill selves mostly from Guard or Reserves
More than half of all veterans who took their own lives after returning from Iraq or Afghanistan were members of the National Guard or Reserves, according to new government data that prompted activists on Tuesday to call for a closer examination of the problem.
Ref. https://deseretnews.com/article/1,5143,695252680,00.html
I find it amazing how the media will go out of their way to try to make the public outcry on this war even louder. Being a combat veteran myself I have talked to numerous soldiers as they were coming home or going over to the middle east. Most of them are very proud of the job they are doing and tell me that it is not as bad over there as the media plays it up to be.
That being said I can see where some who joined the military for the college benefits can not handle the stress of combat. They are the ones I feel are more prone to suicide. The military has many programs in place to see the warning signs and take steps to get their soldiers into counselling. They do not catch them all and a few do commit suicide. This is why the rate is lower among the military.
Unfortunately, suicides among soldiers in 2007 hit the highest rate: 115.
QUOTE |
WASHINGTON - Army soldiers committed suicide in 2007 at the highest rate on record, and the toll is climbing ever higher this year as long war deployments stretch on. At least 115 soldiers killed themselves last year, up from 102 the previous year, the Army said Thursday. Nearly a third of them died at the battlefront - 32 in Iraq and four in Afghanistan. But 26 percent had never deployed to either conflict. "We see a lot of things that are going on in the war which do contribute - mainly the longtime and multiple deployments away from home, exposure to really terrifying and horrifying things, the easy availability of loaded weapons and a force that's very, very busy right now," said Col. Elspeth Ritchie psychiatric consultant to the Army surgeon general. "And so all of those together we think are part of what may contribute, especially if somebody's having difficulties already," she told a Pentagon news conference. Some common factors among those who took their own lives were trouble with relationships, work problems and legal and financial difficulties, officials said. More U.S. troops also died overall in hostilities in 2007 than in any of the previous years in Iraq and Afghanistan. Violence increased in Afghanistan with a Taliban resurgence, and U.S. deaths increased in Iraq even as violence there declined in the second half of the year. Increasing the strain on the force last year was the extension of deployments to 15 months from 12 months, a practice ending this year. The 115 confirmed suicides among active-duty soldiers and National Guard and Reserve troops who had been activated amounted to a rate of 18.8 per 100,000 troops - the highest since the Army began keeping records in 1980. Two other deaths are suspected suicides but still under investigation. So far this year, the trend is comparable to last year, said Lt. Col. Thomas E. Languirand, head of command policies and programs. As of Monday, there had been 38 confirmed suicides in 2008 and 12 more death that are suspected suicides but still under investigation, he said. The rate of suicide continues to rise despite a host of efforts the Army has made to improve the mental health of a force under unprecedented stress from the longer-than-expected war in Iraq and the long and repeated tours of duty it has prompted.... |
International Level: International Guru / Political Participation: 1089 100%