Suicides among Army personnel up 80% in four years
By Shari Roan, Los Angeles Times / For the Booster Shots blog
11:56 a.m. CST, March 8, 2012
Suicide among young Army personnel is among the saddest tolls of the country's two long wars this century. A report released Thursday found suicides among U.S. Army personnel rose 80% between 2004 and 2008.
For the last years in which data were available in this study, 2007 and 2008, 255 soldiers took their lives. The authors estimated that 25% to 50% of the suicides were directly related to the combat commitments in Iraq and Afghanistan. From 1977 to 2003, suicide rates among active U.S. Army personnel were decreasing.
The suicide figures stand out against a backdrop of rising rates of mental health disorders among enlisted personnel -- what the authors of the study call "sentinels for suicide risk." From 2000 to 2008, rates of adjustment disorders, mood disorders, anxiety disorders and substance-abuse disorders have soared in the Army. The number of visits for mental health disorders among personnel nearly doubled during this time.
"The 2008 rate [of mental health problems in personnel] indicates that more than one-fifth of all active duty soldiers had an ambulatory visit for a mental health disorder, implying a prevalent public health problem," the authors wrote.
They called suicides "the tip of the mental health iceberg."
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http://www.chicagotribune.com/health/la-heb-army-suicide-20120308,0,1718793.story
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