Question Details	Asked By	Asked On
US Soldiers Committing Suicide in Iraq	Choux...	11/04/06
Follow-Up: "The US army has sent mental health specialists to Iraq to determine why so many soldiers are committing suicide there, a US media report said. Eleven US soldiers and three Marines have killed themselves in the past seven months in Iraq, an annualised rate of 17 suicides per 100,000 soldiers. The usual rate of army suicides is 13 per 100,000 soldiers, the report in the USA Today newspaper said. A dozen other army deaths being investigated in Iraq could include suicides, and the US Navy is also investigating one possible suicide, it said. "The number of suicides has caused the army to be concerned," said Lieutenant Colonel Elspeth Cameron Ritchie, an army psychiatrist helping investigate the deaths. "Is there something different going on in Iraq that we really need to pay attention to?" Most of the suicides have occurred since May 1, when major combat operations were declared over. Depression, harsh and dangerous living conditions, a long deployment and the accessibility of weapons could contribute to the problem, experts said. The army has sent 478 soldiers home from Iraq for mental-health reasons, the daily said." ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ The much publicized story of the suicide of the female soldier can be viewed by a simple web search.
Answered By		Answered On
ETWolverine		11/06/06
I wonder what effect newspaper reports of the war being a "failure", the soldiers being "stuck" and the situation being a "quagmire" have on the suicide rates in the military. There was a study done years ago that showed that suicide rates increased at times when the press reported depressing news, and decreased when they reported good news. In fact, suicide rates were higher or lower when the same event was reported with either an optomistic or pessimistic take. So the point of view of the media has a definite impact on suicide rates. And since the newspapers have been reporting nothing but doom and gloom from Iraq and Afghanistan since the invasions began (and before), it seems to me that these reports have had an effect on suicide rates in the military. I'd be interested in seeing the effect on the suicide rates in the general population. The article mentions a general population suicide rate of .00013%, but it doesn't say as of when, or whether there has been a trend of increase over the past 4 years. Elliot

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