Aaron Levin / American Psychiatric Association / June 20, 2008
The U.S. Army logs more suicides and suicide attempts than ever before, as troops face increased demands for duty in Iraq and Afghanistan and longer deployments.
Suicides among active U.S. Army soldiers increased for the second straight year, as 117 soldiers killed themselves in 2007, according to a report released on May 29.
There were 934 nonfatal suicide attempts. The numbers of suicides and attempts were the highest in recent years. In 2006, 102 soldiers took their own lives.
Of those who died by suicide in 2007, 29 killed themselves during service in Iraq and four while in Afghanistan.
The increase comes at a time when the Army is recruiting more mental health professionals, conducting Army-wide training programs to fight the stigma surrounding mental health issues, and beginning to integrate screening and treatment for post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and depression into primary care settings.
“I am saddened and frustrated that the number of suicides hasn’t declined,” said psychiatrist Col. Elspeth Cameron Ritchie, M.C., director of behavioral health in the Army Surgeon General’s office, in an interview with Psychiatric News. But many of the Army’s interventions were too recent to show any effect on the 2007 figures, she said.
Similar demographic factors characterized suicidal behavior in both 2006 and 2007, according to the Army Suicide Event Report. The Army requires a formal report on any suicidal behavior that results in a soldier’s hospitalization, evacuation, or death.
Demographically, soldiers who completed or attempted suicide were most likely to be young, Caucasian, and in the lower enlisted ranks. About 95 percent of those completing suicide were men, while 27 percent of those attempting suicide were women—about twice their proportion in the Army overall.
You can read the rest of this article at Psychiatric News.
Concern mounts over rising troop suicides
WASHINGTON (CNN) — Every day, five U.S. soldiers try to kill themselves. Before the Iraq war began, that figure was less than one suicide attempt a day.
The dramatic increase is revealed in new U.S. Army figures, which show 2,100 soldiers tried to commit suicide in 2007.
To read the full article from February 2008 on CNN, click here.
Soldier suicide rate hits record high
By Pauline Jelinek Associated Press / May 30, 2008
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 are still under investigation.
So far this year, the trend is comparable to last year, said Lieutenant Colonel Thomas E. Languirand, head of command policies and programs.
As of Monday, there had been 38 confirmed suicides in 2008 and 12 more deaths that are suspected suicides under investigation, he said.
Read the rest of the article at The Boston Globe.
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