And this is just “Active Duty”. If you add the veterans who have been out less than two years the rate would skyrocket.
I read recently that in the 82nd Airborne, the suicides exceed the combat deaths.
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 really tough area here is stigma. We know that soldiers don’t want to go seek care. They’re tough, they’re strong, they don’t want to go see a behavioral health-care provider. Post-traumatic stress disorder also may be a factor in suicide attempts because it can result in broken relationships and often leads to drug and alcohol abuse.
The “typical” soldier who commits suicide is a member of an infantry unit who uses a firearm to carry out the act, according to the Army.
http://www.cnn.com/2008/US/02/01/military.suicides/index.html
Attempted suicides and self-injuries have quadrupled over the past six years.
The V.A. says the suicide rate among male veterans it serves under the age of 29 hit an all-time high. Those in that age group are more than twice as likely to commit suicide as people in the general population.
PAUL SULLIVAN, Veterans for Common Sense: The number-one reason why the service members and veterans coming back from the Iraq and Afghanistan wars are completing suicides is because of their involvement in the war, because of the horrors that they have seen in the war, and because of the lack of access to prompt and high-quality mental health care when they return home.
http://www.pbs.org/newshour/bb/health/july-dec08/suicides_11-10.html
At this point we are relieved that our Army sons are out of the Army. One wrecked his back and the other missed a deployment. The missed deployment occurred because his wife could not walk after a botched surgery and could not go down because my father was dying. When a war last this long there will be times in any family when they cannot be used for a care plan. The Army has taken the stance the last few years that makes them look like they are waiting for any chance to dump a Solider to save a buck. Sad.