Army suicides up as much as 20 percent

[LiberalNation]

Lots of military news today.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080131/...ixLIyReYgDW7oF

WASHINGTON - As many as 121 Army soldiers committed suicide in 2007, a jump of some 20 percent over the year before, officials said Thursday.

The rise comes despite numerous efforts to improve the mental health of a force stressed by a longer-than-expected war in Iraq and the most deadly year yet in the now six-year-old conflict in Afghanistan.

Internal briefing papers prepared by the Army's psychiatry consultant early this month show there were 89 confirmed suicides last year and 32 deaths that are suspected suicides and still under investigation.

More than a quarter of those — about 34 — happened during deployments in Iraq, an increase from 27 in Iraq the previous year, according to the preliminary figures.

The report also shows an increase in the number of attempted suicides and self-injuries — some 2,100 in 2007 compared to less than 1,500 the previous year and less than 500 in 2002.

The total of 121 suicides last year, if all are confirmed, would be more than double the 52 reported in 2001, before the Sept. 11 attacks prompted the Bush administration to launch its counter-terror war. The toll was 87 by 2005 and 102 in 2006.

Officials said the rate of suicides per 100,000 active duty soldiers has not yet been calculated for 2007. But in a half million-person active duty Army, the 2006 toll of 102 translated to a rate of 17.5 per 100,000, the highest since the Army started counting in 1980, officials said. The rate has fluctuated over those years, with the low being 9.1 per 100,000 in 2001.

That toll and rate for 2006 is a revision from figures released in August because a number of pending cases have since been concluded. Officials earlier had reported 99 soldiers killed themselves in 2006 and two cases were pending — as opposed to the 102 now confirmed. It's common for investigations to take some time and for officials to study results at length before releasing them publicly.

Col. Elspeth Ritchie, the psychiatry consultant to the Army surgeon general, has said that officials found failed personal relationships, legal and financial problems and the stress of their jobs have been main factors in soldiers' suicides. Officials also have found that the number of days troops are deployed in Iraq, Afghanistan or nearby countries contributes to that stress.

With the Army stretched thin by years of fighting the two wars, the Pentagon last year extended normal tours of duty to 15 months from 12 and has sent some troops back to the wars several times. The Army has been hoping to reduce tour lengths this summer. But the prospect could depend heavily on what Gen. David Petraeus, the top U.S. commander in Iraq, recommends when he gives his assessment of security in Iraq and troop needs to Congress in April.

[Black Lance]

Judging from what I have seen since enlisting, I would estimate that the real number is much higher. My BMT flight alone had four washouts due to suicide threat.

[Dilloduck]

Things are rough all over.

Gay and Lesbian Teen-Age Suicide Toll Is High; The Method of Choice

Besides the homicidal dangers posed by guns, there is another important life-saving implication of gun control legislation -- the prevention of suicide. The leading method of death by suicide (both men and women) is by gun -- 60 percent of those who die by suicide use a handgun or long gun to kill themselves. About 47 percent of all firearms-related deaths in the United States each year are attributable to suicide.

One of the most common reasons people cite for defending the private ownership of firearms is self-protection. Some feel the need to store guns in their home to protect themselves, their family and their possessions.

The best evidence on the subject comes from a study reported by Kellermann and Reay in 1986. They counted all people who died by gunshot wound in a large urban county during a six-year period and categorized 398 cases where the gun causing death had been stored in the house where the shooting occurred. The guns were fired for self-protection in only 2 percent of the cases.

The guns were fired accidentally in 3 percent of the cases -- usually a child found the gun, played with it and killed another child. The guns were fired to kill another person who was not an intruder in 10 percent of cases -- usually an adult in the household killed a spouse, girlfriend or boyfriend. The guns were used for suicide in 84 percent of cases.

Thus, guns stored in the home are used for suicide 40 times more often than for self-protection.

If access to guns were greatly restricted, would suicide rates drop? A Seattle-Vancouver comparison study suggested that stricter Canadian gun control laws were associated with a 27 percent lower suicide rate for those 15 to 24 years old (Sloan, Rivara and colleagues, 1990).

Loftin and colleagues (1990) showed that suicide by firearms in the District of Columbia area dropped by 23 percent after the 1976 introduction of one of the most restrictive gun control laws in the country -- though residents could continue to get guns in Maryland and Virginia. The Washington homicide rate also decreased about 25 percent.

The risk of adolescent suicide does not seem lower in homes where guns are stored under lock and key, or without ammunition.

The adolescent suicide rate in the United States has tripled since the 1950's. The rate of suicide by gun has grown hand in hand with growth in the domestic production, sales and private ownership of firearms and grown most where gun control laws are least restrictive.

The homicide and suicide rates in the United States might be expected to drop as much as 25 percent each in a relatively short period if aggressive, restrictive gun control legislation were enacted tomorrow.

Is it more important to enact legislation protecting the life and safety of all our citizens or to allow a minority of citizens the freedom to play with instruments of death and injury unhampered? Guns have to be tightly controlled. DAVID C. CLARK Dir., Center for Suicide Research and Prevention, Rush-Presbyterian- St. Luke's Medical Center Chicago, June 18, 1992

http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpag...54C0A964958260