How hopeless is it?

[1bad65]

There are huge amounts of suicides. Many of which, a huge amount of which are coming from those people who have been deployed.

Source that. Drake pointed out that a large number are guys who have not deployed. Lets see your numbers.

perhaps upon realizing the truth, these soldiers are deciding it is not worth fighting for a country under that pretext and so they decide to suicide themselves?

Source that too. And to show a correlation, those suicides would have to be guys who were already serving in the military before 9/11, but comitted suicide after the wars began. And also, since you said they were fighting, these would have to be suicides of people who actually fought over there.

[MasterKiller]

With 102 confirmed suicides among active-duty and activated reserve-component Soldiers, 2006 had the highest number of cases since 1990. To date, 89 suicide deaths were confirmed in 2007 and 32 cases are still pending.

Suicide attempts have also climbed exponentially since the Army began tracking them in 2002, rising from 350 to approximately 2,100 last year, although some non-suicidal self-injuries and a new electronic medical records system may account for part of the increase, said Col. Elspeth C. Richie, psychiatry consultant to the Army's surgeon general.

The majority of 2006 suicides took place among Soldiers in the United States. Seventy-two had either never deployed or been back from theater for over a year, eight had been back from deployment for less than a year, 27 occurred in Iraq and three in Afghanistan.

The vast majority, Richie said, occur among young, enlisted males aged 18-24, but there has been a rising number among older Soldiers, and in 2006 the Army saw the highest number ever among females: 11. Most, 71 percent, involved firearms.

According to Richie, the Army is closely watching for any correlation between the length and number of deployments and the number of suicides, but the most common cause of suicide is strained relationships. While repeated deployments and post traumatic stress disorder certainly add stress to relationships, she said, it's unusual for them to be the direct cause of a suicide.

http://www.army.mil/-news/2008/01/31...suicide-rates/

[1bad65]

The majority of 2006 suicides took place among Soldiers in the United States. Seventy-two had either never deployed or been back from theater for over a year, eight had been back from deployment for less than a year, 27 occurred in Iraq and three in Afghanistan.

According to Richie, the Army is closely watching for any correlation between the length and number of deployments and the number of suicides, but the most common cause of suicide is strained relationships. While repeated deployments and post traumatic stress disorder certainly add stress to relationships, she said, it's unusual for them to be the direct cause of a suicide.

http://www.army.mil/-news/2008/01/31...suicide-rates/

Thank you. This is very good, and relevant, information.

See how well the discussion goes when people keep it on topic.

[David Jamieson]

Thank you. This is very good, and relevant, information.

See how well the discussion goes when people keep it on topic.

so, what's straining those relationships?
do you think those relationships would be strained if the situation had been dealt with differently as opposed to say: unilaterally declaring war and propping up a vague war on terror?

I know you have difficulty dealing with the reality of the war and I can appreciate your embarrassment about these kinds of things, but, "strained relationships" is a factor in some of the cases.

If all you want to talk about is those strain relationships out of context to the big picture, that's fine. But that's a real kindergarten way of going about it.

[1bad65]

I know you have difficulty dealing with the reality of the war and I can appreciate your embarrassment about these kinds of things, but, "strained relationships" is a factor in some of the cases.

I was raised by a disabled Vietnam veteran. So STFU about stuff you know nothing about.

[1bad65]

so, what's straining those relationships?

Well, it's darn sure not the war as you keep saying it is. MK's sourced post proved you wrong on that one.

You can keep blaming the war/Bush/oil/etc, but no matter how many times you say it, the facts do not agree with you.

[mawali]

There are alot of problems involved in this mess!

1. The military says that there are no problems in meeting enlistment/re-enlistment quotas but in the present theatre guys are rotated 2x and greater because recruitment has fell off considerably. There is no one to take up the slack.

2. When guys compalin about battlefield stress, they are considered punks even though there are guideline in place to mediate/mitigate problems. Left unsolved, the stress become 'hardened' and manifest in various degrees of PTSD. When they try to get help on leaving service, they are often told that since they was no presentation of it when they were 'in-service', they do not have PTSD so they suffer until someone gets hurt. No resolution! Just another dead serviceman who went crazy! Those are comments I have seen or I have heard. Sad but true.

3. Repeated rotation take a toll and in the end someone will pay! Speaking truth to the problems often leads to more problems for the individual so it makes sense (in the moment) to just keep quiet and suffer. Sad but this is a part of the military that speaks with a forked tongue. Things are getting better but more effort will go a long way in helping the veterans come home safely.

[sanjuro_ronin]

Reading between the lines it seems to be that American soldiers are killing themselves because their wives/girlfriends are wh0res when they are away.
Nice.

[Drake]

Reading between the lines it seems to be that American soldiers are killing themselves because their wives/girlfriends are wh0res when they are away.
Nice.

Yep.. basically

[sanjuro_ronin]

Yep.. basically

Maybe they should adopt a more spartan outlook, LOL !

[Lucas]

Reading between the lines it seems to be that American soldiers are killing themselves because their wives/girlfriends are wh0res when they are away.
Nice.

b!tches and h0es aint no reason to let go.

people who suicide because of a relationship probably werent ready for war, you know if their mental fortitude and endurance cant handle an american chick....well.....

[David Jamieson]

I was raised by a disabled Vietnam veteran. So STFU about stuff you know nothing about.

boo effin hoo, gfy why don't you, if you can't discuss without degradation.

[kfson]

My father was a Viet Nam vet. When he came home, his next assignment was the Pentagon. We lived off base in a neighborhood of predominantly military people who's husband's/father's also just came back from Viet Nam. There was alot of stress in that neighborhood... alot of irrational actions and motivations.

My father became withdrawn and distant from the family after Viet Nam.
I'm pretty sure, I know, my parent's marriage was also stressed, but I don't know to what extent. There were alot of other issues... all arising after Viet Nam. It wasn't until he was a couple years into his Parkinson's Disease did he start to return to the man he was before Viet Nam.

[1bad65]

Yep.. basically

Yeah, right.

What experience do you have? I'm sure it pales in comparison with David's experience.

[1bad65]

My father was a Viet Nam vet. When he came home, his next assignment was the Pentagon. We lived off base in a neighborhood of predominantly military people who's husband's/father's also just came back from Viet Nam. There was alot of stress in that neighborhood... alot of irrational actions and motivations.

My father became withdrawn and distant from the family after Viet Nam.
I'm pretty sure, I know, my parent's marriage was also stressed, but I don't know to what extent. There were alot of other issues... all arising after Viet Nam. It wasn't until he was a couple years into his Parkinson's Disease did he start to return to the man he was before Viet Nam.

It's rough. People who knew my dad before say he was never the same. But I admire the fact he came back, got a job, raised his family, sent me to college, etc.