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War & Suicide: The Pentagon Report
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by Rhonda J Mangus | May 29, 2008 at 08:03 pm
415 views | 19 Recommendations | 10 comments
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The wars in Afghanistan and Iraq are taking their toll on the mental health of active-duty soldiers and National Guard and Reserves who are increasingly committing suicide, or attempting suicide, at an alarming rate.
The 115 deaths last year and 102 in 2006 followed 85 in 2005 and 67 in 2004. The only Army records immediately available go back to 1990, and show no year with a higher number of suicides than 2007. The figure in 1990 was 102.
CBS News National Security Correspondent David Martin also reports "There have been as many as 50 suicides since January,...", and Army documents discovered during a CBS News/Washington Post investigation reveal the number of suicide attempts is up from less than 500 reported in 2002 to more than 2,000 reported in 2007.
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Rhonda J Mangus
North Tonawanda, New York, United States
Most RecentMost Recommended Comments (10)
at 07:02 on May 30th, 2008
Rhonda J Mangus, I like this story. It's good stuff.
at 18:50 on May 30th, 2008
Greg, thanks for the flag!
at 07:23 on May 30th, 2008
144 suicides out 500,000 soldiers is approximately .00028%. I wonder how this compares to the general public or non military suicide rate.
at 19:31 on May 30th, 2008
felixdakat, I'm glad you asked. Unfortunately, the National Institute for Mental Health (NIMH) in a 2004 Report claims the national average at 10.9 suicide deaths per 100,000 people, and the 11th leading cause of death in the United States. Of these, NIMH reports an estimated 8-25 attempted suicides occur per every suicide death. The stats are the most recent I could locate and can be reviewed here http://www.nimh.nih.gov/health/publications/suicide-in-the-us-statistics-and-prevention.shtml
In any event, I think the real concern for the Army here is the fact that suicides by soldiers on active-duty are steadily increasing, not decreasing, even though they have stepped up its Suicide Prevention Program.
FYI, and worse yet, is the alleged Veteran's Affairs cover-up. Reports claim the VA's chief mental health official Dr. Ira Katz and other VA Officials, via numerous emails, have claimed (both) 12,000 war veterans per year are attempting suicide while under VA care, and that 18 war veterans kill themselves each day -- 5 of them while under VA care (I'm going to upload a video on this).
If I locate more recent stats on the national average, I will post. Thanks for stopping by!
at 11:04 on May 30th, 2008
Rhonda J Mangus, I like this story. It's good stuff.
at 19:32 on May 30th, 2008
Thanks for the flag, Kwapi V!
at 20:52 on May 30th, 2008
Rhonda J Mangus, I like this story. It's good stuff.
This story makes me mad, mad that people who pretty much refused to fight in the last wars think it is permissable to send and resend and resend soldiers into this war. Our soldiers deserve better.
at 21:29 on May 30th, 2008
I think you are definitely right, Mikasi. Our soldiers do deserve better!
at 21:19 on May 30th, 2008
Rhonda, I like this story. It's good stuff.
at 21:30 on May 30th, 2008
Karen, thanks for the flag!