More U.S. Troops Died by Suicide Than in Afghanistan Combat in 2012.....

More U.S. Troops Died by Suicide Than in Afghanistan Combat in 2012

QUOTE:

"Suicides by active duty U.S. troops last year exceeded the number of servicemen and women killed in combat in Afghanistan. Ray Suarez talks to psychiatrist and retired U.S. Army Brig. Gen. Stephen Xenakis, who says more than half of the soldiers who killed themselves had already sought help from a mental health professional."

....and....

"The statistics are stunning.According to the Associated Press, suicides among active-duty troops reached a new high last year.The suicide rate has been rising since 2001.And last year, 349 service members took their lives, much more than the 295 killed in combat in Afghanistan.The suicide figures are tentative, pending completion of pathology reports later this year."

The stress of the constant deployments to the Middle East at a rate of every six months to a year has taken a toll on US active duty troops. Even though the Iraq War has ended and the war in Afghanistan will end soon, the memories of what these people have seen and done will linger on for decades. Add in the fact that the military will be downsizing due to the pending budget cuts and you have a lot of troops dealing with a lot of stress.

The major difference between the Vietnam era and now is the fact that once you had completed your 13 month tour in Vietnam you were done unless you volunteered to go back. Even then, the stress on the families of those deployed to Vietnam was enormous. Their current counterparts have been sent back multiple times...I can't imagine what it's like to deal with that constant worry.

I wonder if any studies have been done on suicides among family members of the troops....what kind of suicide rates, if any, have been recorded from this population?