The number of suicides in the U.S. Army rose by 80 percent after the United States launched the war on Iraq, according to an analysis published in the British journal Injury Prevention by American military doctors.
The number of Army suicides began to trend upwards in following the invasion of Iraq in 2004 after 25 years of being well below civilian rates of suicide. By 2008, 140 Army personnel committed suicide, 80 percent higher than in 2004.
“This increase, unprecedented in over 30 years of U.S. Army records, suggests that 30 percent of suicides that occurred in 2008 may be associated with post-2003 events following the major commitment of troops to Iraq, in addition to the ongoing operations in Afghanistan,” says the study.
The rise paralleled an increase in counseling and hospitalisation for mental health problems. From 2003, these rates nearly doubled. “The 2008 rate indicates that more than one-fifth of all active-duty soldiers had an ambulatory [walk-in] visit for a mental health disorder, implying a prevalent public health problem,” the study concludes.
The study does not include suicides from other branches of the U.S. military and does not include figures through key decisions of the Obama administration, like the 2009 surge in Afghanistan. But in 2010, the U.S. Army announced that it faced a record number of suicides among Army personnel, with 160 active-duty soldiers taking their own lives.
could murdering innocent people have negative effects on emotions and mental stability?
new studies says no, they were probably just messed up before hand.
sign up now!
So "lighting up" a carload of children in Bagdad isn't the same as a video game?
Who could ever have imagined that?
Looks like that famous order not to commit suicide was widely ignored. Apparently the penalties for disobedience were not severe enough.
"It is against Roman law to commit suicide. The penalty is death." — from A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum
My daughter was beaten raped, murdered, set on fire, then burned a tent with her body in it. Then the military tried to make it look like suicide
No one cares
Yeah I know they had families, etc, etc, but so did the people they killed.
Hey and some people they slaughtered, like in Haditha, were actually WHOLE families!
Are they still heroes when they cuff and execute small children and old people? They certainly don't go to jail for it! Might as well take their own lives!
Only 80%? Well, that's certainly one way for the other side to win the war. Now, if we could only figure out who the other is, we'd be in good shape.
Oh, and…go, Obomber, go! One more feather in your cap. Another accomplishment in an already very, very long list for the Nobel Peace Prize laureate.
Does nobody notice, or consider it relevant, that the death benefit for personnel IN COMBAT ZONES was raised to $250,000 during the period in question? Suicides ARE eligible for this, unless they occur in the course of irresponsible activities, like playing Russian roulette. Victims of murder by their own comrades are eligible, too, of course, whether so reported or otherwise.
Paying more, enjoying it less, to paraphrase.
Better they off themselves than killing us when martial law and FEMA Acts are implemented.
It's the psychs! How many active duty military are on psychiatric medications? Psych meds create suicidal ideation. What a funny coincidence! Stop the psych meds, get rid of the psychs, stop killing civilians, vote for Ron Paul.
Atrocities committed + multiple deployments + family dysfunction = suicide.