More soldiers died from suicide in January than from combat operations

[Nebor]

http://www.cnn.com/2009/US/02/...my.suicides/index.html

This is a very, very sad state of affairs. I'm kind of speechless. As many anti-suicide briefings as we currently get, this news is sure to increase them. I hope more effective corrective actions are taken somehow though.

 

[OCGuy]

Very sad. Time to get most of them home, and on a realistic rotation.

 

[Modelworks]

Sad news. Problems like being suicidal are still very much unspoken topics in the military except for the official line. It still isn't something that soldiers feel like they can talk to their friends or family about. I know when I was in, anyone who went to the shrink was considered weak, crazy, and not someone who you wanted watching your back. Sad but true.

 

[MagicConch]

"We do not know what is going on."

That part was especially disturbing imo.

 

[BrunoPuntzJones]

The Army's confirmed rate of suicides in 2008 was 20.2 per 100,000 soldiers. The nation's suicide rate was 19.5 per 100,000 people in 2005, the most recent figure available, Army officials said last month.

 

[JS80]

Originally posted by: BrunoPuntzJones
The Army's confirmed rate of suicides in 2008 was 20.2 per 100,000 soldiers. The nation's suicide rate was 19.5 per 100,000 people in 2005, the most recent figure available, Army officials said last month.

how many std dev's above are solider suicides?

 

[MovingTarget]

The effective mental healthcare for soldiers is on par with what uninsured citizens have - next to nothing. Sure, it is available, but military culture itself tends to discourage taking advantage of it in a lot of cases. A soldier may not want to lose his/her livelihood just because they went to see a shrink. It is sad and a problem that needs to be dealt with.

 

[Modelworks]

Originally posted by: JS80

Originally posted by: BrunoPuntzJones
The Army's confirmed rate of suicides in 2008 was 20.2 per 100,000 soldiers. The nation's suicide rate was 19.5 per 100,000 people in 2005, the most recent figure available, Army officials said last month.

how many std dev's above are solider suicides?

The other thing is how many deaths are suicides but appear as casualties of war. I know I could have killed myself and made it appear as service related fairly easily.

 

[BrunoPuntzJones]

Originally posted by: JS80

Originally posted by: BrunoPuntzJones
The Army's confirmed rate of suicides in 2008 was 20.2 per 100,000 soldiers. The nation's suicide rate was 19.5 per 100,000 people in 2005, the most recent figure available, Army officials said last month.

how many std dev's above are solider suicides?

Plus would like to know if they are post combat. Not everyone is an infantryman with PTSD. There are desk jockeys with problems just like everyone else.

 

[jpeyton]

This is due to a lack of flowers and/or candy from the Iraqis who greet them on the streets.

 

[Jaskalas]

Originally posted by: jpeyton
This is due to a lack of flowers and/or candy from the Iraqis who greet them on the streets.

I never would have been placed them on the streets to serve as Iraqi policemen.

 

[palehorse]

Originally posted by: MovingTarget
The effective mental healthcare for soldiers is on par with what uninsured citizens have - next to nothing. Sure, it is available, but military culture itself tends to discourage taking advantage of it in a lot of cases. A soldier may not want to lose his/her livelihood just because they went to see a shrink. It is sad and a problem that needs to be dealt with.

That was certainly the case years ago, but we get briefings on suicide, PTSD, depression, etc -- how to seek aid or recognize other soldiers who might need it -- on almost a monthly basis at this point. That is why the high rates are so disconcerting for everyone, as the military is truly attempting to tackle the issue.

I lost a buddy of mine to suicide while I was on my first tour in Afghanistan. His reasons had nothing at all to do with the military, and he didn't display any warning signs at all. (We later found out his reasons). It was an incredibly sad incident for everyone in our unit, and we'll probably all spend the rest of our lives trying to figure out what could we have done to prevent it... but the truth is that sometimes, there's not much anyone can do.

You also need to remember that the military is filled with a lot of soldiers who join the service to get away from other serious problems or issues at home. I imagine that those problems have a way of catching up with some of them during their enlistment.

It's a damn shame when good people die...

 

[StageLeft]

Originally posted by: BrunoPuntzJones
The Army's confirmed rate of suicides in 2008 was 20.2 per 100,000 soldiers. The nation's suicide rate was 19.5 per 100,000 people in 2005, the most recent figure available, Army officials said last month.

If that's true, this is not news, except to say that very few soldiers are currently dying in combat operations.

 

[Schadenfroh]

Originally posted by: Skoorb

Originally posted by: BrunoPuntzJones
The Army's confirmed rate of suicides in 2008 was 20.2 per 100,000 soldiers. The nation's suicide rate was 19.5 per 100,000 people in 2005, the most recent figure available, Army officials said last month.

If that's true, this is not news, except to say that very few soldiers are currently dying in combat operations.

2005 was before the current recession, so I would imagine that current civilian suicide rates are higher now than then. Therefore, this is obviously due to reduced combat related deaths. Strange they chose to report a reduction in combat related deaths using a comparison to suicides.

 

[StageLeft]

Originally posted by: Schadenfroh

Originally posted by: Skoorb

Originally posted by: BrunoPuntzJones
The Army's confirmed rate of suicides in 2008 was 20.2 per 100,000 soldiers. The nation's suicide rate was 19.5 per 100,000 people in 2005, the most recent figure available, Army officials said last month.

If that's true, this is not news, except to say that very few soldiers are currently dying in combat operations.

2005 was before the current recession, so I would imagine that current civilian suicide rates are higher now than then. Therefore, this is obviously due to reduced combat related deaths. Strange they chose to report a reduction in combat related deaths using a comparison to suicides.

Served an agenda, I suppose, as borne out in this thread.

 

[Red Dawn]

Originally posted by: Schadenfroh

Originally posted by: Skoorb

Originally posted by: BrunoPuntzJones
The Army's confirmed rate of suicides in 2008 was 20.2 per 100,000 soldiers. The nation's suicide rate was 19.5 per 100,000 people in 2005, the most recent figure available, Army officials said last month.

If that's true, this is not news, except to say that very few soldiers are currently dying in combat operations.

2005 was before the current recession, so I would imagine that current civilian suicide rates are higher now than then. Therefore, this is obviously due to reduced combat related deaths. Strange they chose to report a reduction in combat related deaths using a comparison to suicides.

I wonder what thrates were in the Services before they extended Combat Tours?

 

[theflyingpig]

Originally posted by: jpeyton
This is due to a lack of flowers and/or candy from the Iraqis who greet them on the streets.

Why don't you post the good pics? You know the ones with Iraqis blown to pieces. Those would have been cooler. I like seeing dead Iraqis. Please google and post more death and destruction. I love it.

 

[OCGuy]

Originally posted by: jpeyton
This is due to a lack of flowers and/or candy from the Iraqis who greet them on the streets.

Wow. You are the worst troll in P&N, and that is saying alot.



I wonder if these gassed Kurds wished Saddam was out of power a few years earlier?

 

[BoomerD]

Originally posted by: Ocguy31

Originally posted by: jpeyton
This is due to a lack of flowers and/or candy from the Iraqis who greet them on the streets.

Wow. You are the worst troll in P&N, and that is saying alot.



I wonder if these gassed Kurds wished Saddam was out of power a few years earlier?

Do you think it matters to them WHO killed them?

In the end, they're still dead.

We had no right to remove Saddam from power unless we're also going to remove the dictators in other countries who kill their citizens. North Korea, China, Sudan... the list goes on and on and on...Where do we go next? (or should we wait to get out of one stinking mess before we start another?)

 

[jpeyton]

Originally posted by: theflyingpig
Please google and post more death and destruction. I love it.

Text

Enjoy!

 

[theflyingpig]

Originally posted by: jpeyton

Originally posted by: theflyingpig
Please google and post more death and destruction. I love it.

Text

Enjoy!

You need to work on your reading comprehension. I like seeing dead Iraqis, IED attacks are a little too boring for me. I like seeing the bodies of the innocent Iraqis splattered on the walls of their own homes. Please find more of those. Thanks!

 

[theflyingpig]

Originally posted by: BoomerD

Originally posted by: Ocguy31

Originally posted by: jpeyton
This is due to a lack of flowers and/or candy from the Iraqis who greet them on the streets.

Wow. You are the worst troll in P&N, and that is saying alot.



I wonder if these gassed Kurds wished Saddam was out of power a few years earlier?

Do you think it matters to them WHO killed them?

In the end, they're still dead.

We had no right to remove Saddam from power unless we're also going to remove the dictators in other countries who kill their citizens. North Korea, China, Sudan... the list goes on and on and on...Where do we go next? (or should we wait to get out of one stinking mess before we start another?)

There is truth here. Saddam knew how to control the Iraqi people. We, and the new Iraqi government, clearly do not. In order for Iraq to be stable once again, a new Saddam must be put in power.

 

[OCGuy]

Originally posted by: theflyingpig

Originally posted by: BoomerD

Originally posted by: Ocguy31

Originally posted by: jpeyton
This is due to a lack of flowers and/or candy from the Iraqis who greet them on the streets.

Wow. You are the worst troll in P&N, and that is saying alot.



I wonder if these gassed Kurds wished Saddam was out of power a few years earlier?

Do you think it matters to them WHO killed them?

In the end, they're still dead.

We had no right to remove Saddam from power unless we're also going to remove the dictators in other countries who kill their citizens. North Korea, China, Sudan... the list goes on and on and on...Where do we go next? (or should we wait to get out of one stinking mess before we start another?)

There is truth here. Saddam knew how to control the Iraqi people. We, and the new Iraqi government, clearly do not. In order for Iraq to be stable once again, a new Saddam must be put in power.

That is true. Saddam was the lesser of two evils when he wasnt at war with Iran, invading Kuwait, or gassing his own people (as wierd as it sounds). He was a secular dictator with an iron fist, who kept the different Islamic factions apart. Sadly, that is all the people in that part of the world understand.

My point was that it is trolling and classless to post pictures of dead children in a thread about our young soldiers killing themselves.

 

[Moonbeam]

They don't know what is going on and nobody knows what's going on except Moonbeam, even though I have posted here the reasons numerous times.

There is a deep and hidden truth, hidden because nobody whats to know, that explains everything.

But just because something explains everything doesn't mean anybody is going to admit this truth.

Imagine a truth that you would rather die than know and then to have it shoved in your face. Imagine a truth that is actually false and the last think you want to be.

Imagine if you actually feel like the worst person in the world and you get into a situation where your mechanisms of denial break suddenly, and you had no idea you felt that way and you can no longer deny it is true.

Oh but wait. Don't imagine that. You might kill yourself too. In fact you surely will. And the army has the proof.

Imagine instead that you were taught from day one that the real feelings you have and suppress are actually lies so that if you ever lost your defenses you would be forewarned you will find lies that tell you you should die, that it will happen and you must not listen because they are lies.

No, let's just continue to wonder around in the dark with no idea why they die. Better they die than I know anything.

 

[Corn]

Originally posted by: jpeyton
This is due to a lack of flowers and/or candy from the Iraqis who greet them on the streets.

You are one disturbed person, seek professional help.