Suicide is on the rise everywhere and the soldiers are no exception to this recent ‘trend’
Jacquelyn Edwards
Staff Writer

Suicide among active duty soldiers has seen a dramatic rise since 2011 according to Military Health Intelligence.

There were 248 confirmed or potential suicides in the Army while the Marine Corp. had 28 confirmed suicides and 163 attempted suicides in one year. These numbers just go to illustrate the large toll that this 10 year war has had on its soldiers both active and reserve.

“After 10 years of war with an all-volunteer force, you’re going to have problems that no one could have forecasted before this began,” said Army Vice Chief of Staff Gen. Peter Chiarelli, who presented the results in January at the Pentagon.

Cases of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) or Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI) have seen a recent rise with more than 126,000 cases of TBI since the beginning of the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, along with 70,000 diagnosed cases of PTSD since 2003.

“Suicides overall have leveled off,” Chiarelli stated. Army statistics indicate that there was an increase to 164 suicides in 2011 from the 159 in 2010 among active duty soldiers while National Guard soldier suicide fell in 2011.

Overall, including Army civilians and military families, the suicide total fell to 315 in 2011 from 350 the previous year, but the numbers could have been worse had the Army not tackled the issue seriously several years ago.

“What would it have been if we had not focused the efforts we have focused on it,” Chiarelli said. “How much more would it have continued to climb?”

How much indeed? In the year 2010 more than 3,500 diagnoses of ‘suicidal ideation’ were diagnosed when in 2005 there had been nearly zero.

Soldiers are ordinary people put into extraordinary and sometimes difficult situations.

Situations that they are not always equipped to handle no matter how much training they have undergone. These pressure filled situations can lead to mental illness such as PTSD or suicide if not handled correctly.

The military has tried their hardest to stress suicide awareness among the military bases around the world but there is still denial among the soldiers.

Although more and more troops are seeking treatment there are still many out there who have not and 1 out of 5 of those people will commit suicide.

According to Military Health Organization there are signs that people can look out for to determine whether or not a loved one is on the path to suicide. Looking out for phrases such as “My family is better off without me,” or “Life really isn’t worth living”; as well as other signs such as appearing depressed or sad, feeling hopeless, dramatic mood changes, and giving away prized possessions are just a few of the warning signs to be on the watch for.

“None of these on their own may not look significant,” Says Dr. Sara Chandler a mental health counselor on Fort Lewis “But put these together and you have what we call ‘suicide risk’.”

Dr. Chandler emphasizes the importance of suicide prevention through early action.

She has seen many successful patients never make it to the ledge of a building because of the support and watchfulness of their friends and family.

“People are often amazed by how high suicide rates are among the military,” Chandler explains. “People don’t expect for military families or soldiers to even contemplate suicide because the world sees these families and soldiers as strong independent individuals. Those who have committed suicide were either too far gone to listen to help or they just didn’t have enough support.”

Though troops have left Iraq and an Afghanistan withdrawal is planned, the psychological problems these soldiers face with continue, and in some cases increase as veterans enter the civilian world. But Chiarelli promises that the Army will stay on top of it.

“The fact that I stand here in front of you today shows that we see these problems, we see where we’ve had successes, and we’re attacking those areas where we’ve got problems,” Chiarelli said in January.

But many have said that military commanders would fix problems with prosecution without legislation from Congress.

It is understood that commanders need to be held accountable for not fixing the problems.

“Many people believe that commanders who refuse to pay attention to or take no action towards a soldier’s mental health should be penalized,” Commander Anne Raspier states in a telephone conference.

“If a doctor were to ignore a life threatening disease while on the job and his patient died later due to that oversight he could be charged for attempted murder. We believe that a military commander should be held to the same accountability,” Raspier said.

But not everyone agrees. Many military commanders are appalled by such claims stating that they have only their soldier’s best interest at heart. But no matter how it is looked at suicide among soldiers is a serious problem that has to be owned by, and solved by, the military.