Five myths about military suicides

http://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/five-myths-about-suicide-in-the-military/2014/11/07/61ceb0aa-637b-11e4-836c-83bc4f26eb67_story.html

Five myths about military suicides
By Yochi Dreazen November 7

(snip) Military suicides have become so common — since 2001, more active-duty U.S. troops have killed themselves than have been killed in Afghanistan, and suicides among reservists and National Guard members are spiking — that they are now background noise to many Americans, unpleasant reminders of wars most of us have forgotten about. But we won’t be able to solve the problem until we understand it. Let’s get rid of some myths.

1. Suicides have increased because we have overstretched our troops.
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2. Suicides should decline with the end of the Iraq and Afghanistan wars.
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And yet the suicide rate within the military is holding steady. The number of active-duty suicides in 2013 dropped by roughly 19 percent compared with 2012, but 2014 has seen them inch back up. This year, the military had lost 161 active-duty troops to suicide as of July, the most recent data available, compared with 154 during the same six-month time period in 2013. The numbers for the citizen-soldiers of the reserves and the National Guard have been even more dire, climbing 8 percent from 2012 to 2013, from 203 to 220. Gen. Ray Odierno, the Army chief of staff, told me in an interview, “I don’t think we’ve hit the top yet on suicides.”

That’s in part because post-traumatic stress disorder, which can fuel the alcohol abuse or depression that are most closely linked to military suicide, can manifest gradually, so veterans who seem okay could see their mental health deteriorate years after their service.
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3. Suicides have increased because the military lowered its recruitment standards and forced soldiers to remain on active duty.
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4. The weakest troops are most at risk.
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The anonymous author might be surprised to know that Navy SEALs, Army Rangers and other elite troops from the military’s secretive Special Operations community are also killing themselves at record rates.
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5. This is a problem unique to the military.

Our all-volunteer military reflects the society in which its soldiers were raised, and any problem that affects the country also affects those troops. (snip) Although the military suicide rate recently eclipsed the rate among civilians of similar age and background, the civilian rate has also soared. More Americans now take their own lives than die in car crashes. The increase has been particularly pronounced among baby boomers and other middle-aged Americans.
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