Soldier Suicides Skyrocket

[Facial_King]

Pretty grim stuff:

http://www.salon.com/news/feature/2009/03/19/army_suicides/index.html

Excerpt:
"March 19, 2009 | WASHINGTON -- The Senate Armed Services Committee hearings Wednesday on the rising suicide rate among U.S. ground troops in Iraq and Afghanistan revealed some frightening new data, but did little to investigate the underlying causes of what is emerging as one of the darkest, most disturbing legacies of the wars.

Last year the Army had its highest suicide rate on record -- 140 soldiers. But new data from the Army on Wednesday showed the number jumping even higher. Forty-eight soldiers have already killed themselves so far this year. If that rate keeps up, nearly 225 Army soldiers will be dead by their own hand by the end of 2009.

Senate Armed Services Committee Chairman Sen. Carl Levin, D-Mich., called the latest trends "alarming." Army Vice Chief of Staff Peter Chiarelli admitted, "I, and the other senior leaders of our Army, readily acknowledge that these current figures are unacceptable."

 

[ChefChiTown]

And while the suicide rates among the Army and Marine Corps ground troops reached an all-time high of around 19 suicides per 100,000 troops last year, rates in the Navy and Air Force have remained relatively flat at around 11.5.

I don't want to be "that" guy, but why is this supposed to be surprising? Just because they are soldiers, are we supposed to look at their suicide rate as something that's more tragic than the suicide rate for regular US citizens?

A new six-year analysis in the American Journal of Preventive Medicine found that the U.S. suicide rate rose to 11 per 100,000 people in 2005, from 10.5 per 100,000 in 1999, an increase of just under 5%.

The report found that virtually all of the increase was attributable to a nearly 16% jump in suicides among people ages 40 to 64, a group not commonly seen as high-risk. The rate for that age group rose to 15.6 per 100,000 in 2005, from 13.5 per 100,000 in 1999.

http://articles.latimes.com/2008/oct/21/science/sci-suicide21
Same statistics from the CDC & NCHS

Keep in mind, those stats are from 2005 so that number could've increased in the past 3-4 years.

The rate for ground troops (per 100,000) is around 19 and the rate for US citizens (per 100,000) is 11. I know that's a difference of 8, but you have to keep in mind that those statistics are singling out a specific job, which just so happens to be a very stressful one. That's like comparing the suicide rate between accountants and Gap employees. One has a much more stressful job than the other, which leads to more suicides (and the other one requires you to fold clothes all day).

That's a pretty high rate of suicide, but it shouldn't be surprising anybody at all.

:2 cents:

 

[STDiva]

i am jacks complete lack of surprise.

 

[Will E Worm]

Last year the Army had its highest suicide rate on record -- 140 soldiers. But new data from the Army on Wednesday showed the number jumping even higher. Forty-eight soldiers have already killed themselves so far this year. If that rate keeps up, nearly 225 Army soldiers will be dead by their own hand by the end of 2009.

They are probably finally figuring out they are in a "war" they can't win and a "war" that was started under false pretenses.

Bring the troops home.