Record Number of Suicides in US Troops
Monday, June 09, 2008
JC Jones MA RN
The US Army has reported a 13% increase in the number of suicide in US troops in 2007. We may think the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan are over or winding down, but in fact, 2007 was the deadliest year on record for our service men and women.
115 soldiers committed suicide in 2007, and most of them did so within 3 months of deployment to Iraq or Afghanistan. The majority were under age 25 years old and married. The US Army is responding by training primary care providers to diagnose and treat combat related illnesses, including post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and mild traumatic brain injury (TBI), two diagnoses that are seen in unprecedented numbers in our troops.
The Army emphasizes "staying connected" as an antidote to the mental health problems plaguing our soldiers.
Thank you alisonheryer for use of photo US Troops Wait Out Iraqi Scud Attack
Labels: PTSD, suicide rate, US army
2 Comments:
At Tue Jul 08, 01:43:00 PM 2008,
emmy said…
To the Army's credit; when I received a suicide e-mail from my son who is stationed in Iraq, they took it seriously and had someone there talking to him within 20 minutes of the e-mail. I am very, very grateful.
At Fri Jul 11, 10:50:00 AM 2008,
JC Jones MA RN said…
Thank you Emmy. We hope your son is well & I have to say I have heard positive reports about the responsiveness of the Army once they are aware a problem exists.
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