Military lags on suicide prevention, report says (click here)
- Published 12:00 am PDT Sunday, October 21, 2007
In 2006, 30 soldiers and Marines committed suicide while serving in the war in Iraq, the most in any year since it began in 2003, according to information released by the Defense Manpower Data Center in response to a Freedom of Information Act request by The Bee.
This year is on track to meet or surpass that number with at least 27 suicides so far in 2007.
Soldiers and Marines are being required to serve on the front lines for longer than any time in U.S. military history, according to a report on mental health by the Army's Office of the Surgeon General.
During World War II and Vietnam, service members were regularly and routinely withdrawn from war zones for rest, something that's not happening in this war, the report says.
The report also deemed the military's suicide prevention training not applicable in a combat environment. And with only one behavioral health specialist per 1,000 service members – one per 700 soldiers and 2,000 Marines – the question is whether service members would be able to access help even if they overcame the military stigmas surrounding mental health issues.
The Army responded to increasing suicide rates by committing several months ago to increase its behavioral health staff, although the number actually hired so far is "quite small," Col. Elspeth Ritchie, behavioral health psychiatry consultant to the U.S. Army Surgeon General, said during a media roundtable. He said mental health professionals are in short supply.
The Army has extended the leaves of soldiers deployed to the Middle East for 15 months from 15 to 18 days.
- Published 12:00 am PDT Sunday, October 21, 2007
In 2006, 30 soldiers and Marines committed suicide while serving in the war in Iraq, the most in any year since it began in 2003, according to information released by the Defense Manpower Data Center in response to a Freedom of Information Act request by The Bee.
This year is on track to meet or surpass that number with at least 27 suicides so far in 2007.
Soldiers and Marines are being required to serve on the front lines for longer than any time in U.S. military history, according to a report on mental health by the Army's Office of the Surgeon General.
During World War II and Vietnam, service members were regularly and routinely withdrawn from war zones for rest, something that's not happening in this war, the report says.
The report also deemed the military's suicide prevention training not applicable in a combat environment. And with only one behavioral health specialist per 1,000 service members – one per 700 soldiers and 2,000 Marines – the question is whether service members would be able to access help even if they overcame the military stigmas surrounding mental health issues.
The Army responded to increasing suicide rates by committing several months ago to increase its behavioral health staff, although the number actually hired so far is "quite small," Col. Elspeth Ritchie, behavioral health psychiatry consultant to the U.S. Army Surgeon General, said during a media roundtable. He said mental health professionals are in short supply.
The Army has extended the leaves of soldiers deployed to the Middle East for 15 months from 15 to 18 days.
Army suicides hit highest level since 1993 (click here)
83 soldiers killed themselves in 2005, up from 67 the previous year
WASHINGTON - The number of U.S. Army soldiers who took their own lives increased last year to the highest total since 1993, despite a growing effort by the Army to detect and prevent suicides.
In 2005, a total of 83 soldiers committed suicide, compared with 67 in 2004, and 60 in 2003 — the year U.S.-led forces invaded Iraq. Four other deaths in 2005 are being investigated as possible suicides but have not yet been confirmed. The totals include active duty Army soldiers and deployed National Guard and Reserve troops.
“Although we are not alarmed by the slight increase, we do take suicide prevention very seriously,” said Army spokesman Col. Joseph Curtin....
In 2005, a total of 83 soldiers committed suicide, compared with 67 in 2004, and 60 in 2003 — the year U.S.-led forces invaded Iraq. Four other deaths in 2005 are being investigated as possible suicides but have not yet been confirmed. The totals include active duty Army soldiers and deployed National Guard and Reserve troops.
“Although we are not alarmed by the slight increase, we do take suicide prevention very seriously,” said Army spokesman Col. Joseph Curtin....
That last statement is easily disputed by the accounts of lack of mental health care to returning veterans and those that never made it out of the military before they died at the will of their own dispair.
The Frank Rich article also clearly spells out how the Executive Branch corruption of the military linked to contractors has lead to the death of an officer that never intended that dishonor for his life or his family.
When does it end? Who will be the next officer of our military to suffer due to the designs Bush and Cheney corruption brings to their lives? When will the members of the House and Senate see the increase of danger to our national security due to the high level of corruption within this Executive Branch? When it's too late?
