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172 Comments
- JenniferInMO, on 01/29/2009, -10/+111Suicides should be added to the number of casualties. And soldiers and vets with PTSD should be included in the number of wounded. Better yet we should bring our troops home and stop waging wars.
- omega09, on 01/29/2009, -8/+69This is what happens when normal people are forced to do inhumane things to other normal people by ideology obsessed leaders drunk with power.
- twiztidsinz, on 01/29/2009, -2/+31Let me complete that for you:
"Right after Obama took presidency... the facts are coming out.
Coincidence?" - EKinnee, on 01/29/2009, -1/+22I take it that none of you read this:
"The night before, Jeffrey "asked if he could sit in my lap and if we could rock," Lucey said.
"It was about 11:30 at night. And I rocked him for about 45 minutes. Now here you have a 23-year-old, 150-pound Marine that I'm just rocking, and his therapist said it was his last gasp. It was his last place for refuge and then, the next time I held him in my lap was when I was taking him down from the rafters. He had put the hose around his neck double-looped and he was dead," Lucey said."
Or are we playing the Jaded Digger game? - inactive, on 01/29/2009, -7/+27This is what happens when you dump troops into a war that nobody wanted, for completely the wrong reasons, and under a huge umbrella of lies...then don't give soldiers the support they need when they get home. Our government is a complete failure in this regard.
Really sad. - lhbaker, on 01/29/2009, -0/+18Read before you post. The RATE of suicides is going up, measured in suicides per 100,000 soldiers.
- Firstdaughter, on 01/29/2009, -0/+18I agree!
I can only imagine that having PTSD would equate to having lost your life as everything you had and enjoyed prior to it is gone. - HumanNouveau, on 01/29/2009, -0/+18Firstdaughter, something to bear in mind is that PTSD comes in degrees and is manageable with treatment (as are many physical injuries). I only raise that because I want to be sure your well-intended statement does not further misconceptions about PTSD. People with PTSD face a certain stigma as being somehow dangerous or emotionally destroyed. People with PTSD can work, and live relatively normal lives (except in the absolute worst cases), but to do so requires psychological care and support.
So, it's a burden, but not necessarily a complete loss. We need to keep pressure on the services and the VA to correctly identify the degree of PTSD and provide the right level of services so that as many people as possible keep as much joy as possible in their lives. - serif69, on 01/29/2009, -0/+16Really this does not surprise me. The amount of stress put on the individuals in our military is absurd. Violent conflicts are stressful enough, but with the way they are treated after the get back from conflicts is a true shame. Not only that, but they are caught in the middle of an ideological fight between those who believe we should use military force and those who hate the use of force. It's as if people believe that the troops are just one big example to leverage their arguments with. Hopefully news like this will show that they are, in fact, human, and we need to do whatever it takes to help them do their jobs, get home safe, and take care of them when they return, regardless of our political ideologies.
- asaone, on 01/29/2009, -0/+15santiago1
Suicides and PTSD are the results of shutting down your mind, but your subconscious will not let you forget, it brings all the ***** you saw and did back to your mind in the form of bad dreams, self medication, depression. No matter how hard you try and forget it comes back on you - oldhick, on 01/29/2009, -4/+18O'bomb-a-zombies... That's really funny and articulate. That's not right, what I meant to say is that's really not funny and is a worn out and pointless exercise in typing.
Also, what does the phrase "stay the course" have to do with suicides? Are you implying that we shouldn't take steps to prevent suicides amongst are military personnel? That is disgusting. These people have sacrificed everything to travel half-way around the world at our request. We can at least respect their service and provide them with the best care, treatment, and support possible. - treehugger87, on 01/29/2009, -0/+14@Brian aka jaded digger. Ekinnee quotes the words of a mother who held her son the night before he killed himself and then had to pull her own child down from the rafter where he hanged himself and you don't know what he's talking about? You need to examine your own humanity, because that statement indicates a lack of sensitivity that sends up a red flag even through cyberspace. Get the help you need before you hurt someone else or yourself.
- BlacklabelSAR, on 01/29/2009, -1/+15"The Army has long cited personal stress -- including financial, relationship and substance-abuse problems -- as the major reason for suicides, but it is also studying the extent to which deployments to a war zone may play a role."
What obvious *****. If combat was not a factor, then the rate of suicide would equal the rate for the same age and gender of non-soldiers. Unbelievable, literally. - angelgabe, on 01/29/2009, -0/+13@orubinstein According to you, 128 people committed suicide in the last 8 days. And for some reason unknown to the universe January 20th through the 28th of THIS year were somehow part of 2008. What are you, retarded? RTFA
- andyb747, on 01/29/2009, -3/+16"Mission Accomplished"
05-01-2003
G.W. - serif69, on 01/29/2009, -2/+14Yes.
- mbraynard, on 01/29/2009, -4/+16The report and the comments made here by the psuedo-intellectuals on Digg are inane and ignorant.
The suicide rate in the Army - reportedly around 20 per 100k, is similar or less than the suicide rate for males in the upper teen / lower 20s that constitute the bulk of the Army. That is a strikingly similar to the suicide rate for males of all ages in the US *anyway* and much lower than that among males in other *stress free elitist European* nations like Austria and Switzerland.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_ ...
Further, when you break down the male population age demographics, you will see that is is actually slightly LOWER than the suicide rate among males aged 20-24 in the US that constitute the bulk of the fighting force.
http://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/preview/mmwrhtml/mm5635a2. ...
I wish I could create a model that mirrored the sex/age of the military with more granulity, but those are resources beyond me.
So maybe the title and interpretation should be "Joining the US Army Reduces or Does Not Affect Your Rate of Suicide."
My theory is that being in the Army gives you a sense of purpose. Having sat through the officer lectures with the Marines on suicide, many suicides are caused by women cheating on their men and their men finding out about it.
Just asking for a little intellectual honesty around here, you know. - FasterGun, on 01/29/2009, -0/+12You have every right to be a complete moron, but youre still a dumbass.
- MirrorminD, on 01/29/2009, -7/+18You're a moron.
- Ryan32, on 01/29/2009, -0/+10I'm guessing he's a POG who never actually saw combat...
I have a lot of friends who suffer from minor PTSD issues.. Hell, anyone who is in intense combat repeatedly (or even once most likely) would have some sort of effect. It's called being human.
I don't consider myself to have PTSD, but I'll be damned if I don't get choked up and emotional at random times because something I see or hear reminds me of a friend I watched die in theater.
You're claim literally tells me 100% that you have never seen real combat... And riding in a humvee down route mobile doesn't count. - inactive, on 01/29/2009, -0/+10I guess they don't want to release the Vietnam numbers and really humiliate themselves.
- pintomp3, on 01/29/2009, -3/+13And ***** stinks. That's why you don't go running into either unless you have a damn good reason.
- UnpossibIe, on 01/29/2009, -0/+9Shame to see someone with the unit SSI of the big red one spouting such putrid *****. Something tells me you've never been in combat, or probably never even trained for it. *****, I'll be highly surprised if you've ever done any military service. The fact that people suffer from PTSD is a sign that we are humans and as much as we want to shut down our humanity and kill without paying a price, our nature refuses to to give in to perverse destruction of life.
Unlike that bitch poster, ColonelJessup, I served in the military and I can tell you from personal experience that true soldiers don't want to go to war, but when they are called upon they sacrifice everything, and in some cases, they even sacrifice their mental health.
Served in the 82nd. 3/325 Airborne Infantry, 11B Sgt. - mark076h, on 01/29/2009, -0/+9Have you been to Iraq or Afghanistan?
- h3lx, on 01/29/2009, -0/+9"We need to keep pressure on the services and the VA to correctly identify the degree..."
--
They do already. Brain science isn't like rocket surgery and the propensity for errors are well above the norm considering the workloads. Not a lot to discover in a 5 minute skimming of a med book before a 15 minute conversation with an individual who really doesn't want to be there in the first place. The blame for the under-reported cases of PTSD doesn't fall so much on the Doctors doing the diagnosing, but more towards the persons simply not bringing it up. The treatment is there, you have to be convinced to ask for it.
--
Sleep deprivation, anxiety, violent/non-violent outbursts... in the Marines, that was the norm. It takes a bit of exposure to 'real-life' to recalibrate your definition of what is normal. Sometimes that can take years. - relaxeder, on 04/17/2009, -1/+9"You mean like Genocide?"
No, our troops would be in Darfur if that was a damn good reason. - Equinamin, on 01/29/2009, -9/+17Collateral Damaged Lives!
- inactive, on 01/29/2009, -0/+8Is this an educated guess, or a random one? I'm sincerely curious as to what you're basing this on. Have you known a lot of soldiers who took their own lives, or have you read a lot of interviews with such?
- samboy, on 01/29/2009, -0/+8RTFA where you will observe:
the highest level since 1980, when it began tracking suicides. - Briandt75, on 01/29/2009, -2/+10I think his point still stands.
- mashtdi, on 01/29/2009, -0/+8They weren't forced. They signed up. The army lets recruits pick their jobs before boot camp. Some people dont stop and think about what they are getting into before they sign the papers.
- twiztidsinz, on 01/29/2009, -0/+8What's "rocket surgery"?
- twiztidsinz, on 01/29/2009, -1/+8No... PTSD (Post Traumatic Stress Disorder) is what it really is because it can effect people who were in a war zone but not being 'shelled' (where the term comes from) as well as people who are not in the military.
- twiztidsinz, on 01/29/2009, -0/+7That might be true if there were overwhelming support for the war amongst the troops. But many of them disagree.
You have to understand that the Military is a family.
Speaking out against your family doesn't go over well.
It's the same reason why many cops choose to remain silent rather than voice their dislike of the "War on Drugs", namely marijuana; the vocal supporters are the minority because current laws that criminalize marijuana and those who feel it should be continued can cite the non-vocal supporters as those who agree with them, inflating and distorting their numbers. - JCEEZ, on 01/29/2009, -0/+6wow your an idiot. You do realize that these are statistics from last year right?
- skyjis6, on 01/29/2009, -0/+6As a soldier i disagree. There is a big difference between me taking a bullet to the face, and me coming home to find my wife cheating, then killing her and myself. Or me coming back from the war, being dissatisfied with my life, and ending it. The key is, i'm back from the war.
suicide is still a personal choice. and, gods forbid, if i ever commit suicide i don't want to be included in same count as troops that died in combat. - BooLag, on 04/23/2009, -0/+6War: What is it good for?
- Ne007, on 01/29/2009, -0/+5BE ALL YOU CAN BE!
- asaone, on 01/29/2009, -1/+6this situation is ***** up on so many levels it is hard for most people to get a handle on it. Military people having to serve 1,2,3,4, 5 tours of duty in a combat situation with inadequate down time between tours, Family's torn apart, untreated or inadequately treated wounds, self medication for stress that will give people in there 20's gray hair that a lot of times leads to heavy substance abuse and addictions. The wrong war at the wrong time with no real end in sight, and most people could care less and do less to support the troops. ........
- ultraseamus, on 01/29/2009, -0/+5The problem with your logic is, it means Diggers do not get a chance to talk about how wrong this war is. Maybe if you threw in some statistic claiming that 90% of non army suicides are a direct side-effect of army suicides... You have to give them somethign.
- treehugger87, on 01/29/2009, -0/+5I would implore you to read the article. National average is irrelevant. Soldiers fall into a specific demographic. They are in an environment where the people they report to are looking for specific signs indicating suicidal thoughts. When properly funded, soldiers have a support system that can prevent these tragedies. You can't fairly compare them to the national average.
Here is the most important statement in this report:
"highest level of suicides among its soldiers since it began tracking the rate 28 years ago."
In other words, regardless of any other measurement, suicides among soldiers are at the highest levels since we began recording them.
And what is the big deal? Come on, man, you're talking about somebody's son or daughter. Somebody's father or mother. These are real people and now those who love them don't have them any more.
http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/headline/metro ...
http://momfromhlwdflorida.blogspot.com/2006/04/rip ... - inactive, on 01/29/2009, -4/+9Unless you rather get shot at, end up homeless or have any more urges to kill yourself, rip up your ***** ***** military contract now. The US government and military don't give a flying F about you. They have no problem sending you into an obvious suicide mission.
You can get out now for your own life, and live, or you can keep on plugging away at it and play the Russian Roulette probabilities over and over, but eventually you're going to catch a bullet. I'm not going to give an F about you if you do, my neighbor's not, the man on the street is not, and the VAH isn't going to do a hell of a lot for you. You're just going to be another cripple in a wheelchair on the sideline of life, GAME OVER. For what? A ***** medal? You find that crap at gunshows, tons of them, for a couple of dollars, they are worthless ribbon and metal trinkets.
Somebody comes up to me and tells me they deserted, I'm like, holy ***** *****, you are the bravest ***** I know... and someone who got some sense.... finally. Someone sticking in taking the crap and slaving away because they are afraid of the ***** above them yelling at them... no... I have no respect for them... just another spineless peon in the military... and its full of those enlisted jokers. - Denominator88, on 01/29/2009, -2/+6Of course the rates of depression in the U.S. are at record numbers as well, correlating to the number of increased suicides. It doesn't mean the Army led them to kill themselves. Remember, there are 3 types of lies: lies, damn lies, and statistics (Mark Twain).
- twiztidsinz, on 01/29/2009, -0/+4It's called drawing parallels.
Not every issue is unique to one subject. - JROXZ, on 01/29/2009, -0/+4And all along denied the decent and proper psychological care they deserved... I hope this is etched into the minds of their commanding officers for failing to acknowledge the severity of the situation.
- BassMasterP, on 01/30/2009, -1/+5wow really diggmaster. They signed up for the army, armies fight during war, they knew what they were signing up for or potentially signing up for.
Having homicide experience has nothing to do with this, nor is it a prerequisite to joining the army. - DrewPeacock, on 01/29/2009, -0/+4Shrooms.
- inactive, on 01/29/2009, -2/+6It's true. PTSD was much less of a problem in WWII precisely because soldiers had so much moral backing from people at home. When a government wages a domestically unpopular war they're dooming the mental health of many more soldiers than if the cause was widely seen as just.
- m3printing, on 01/29/2009, -0/+4I agree with you completely. I know someone serving in the Army and spoke with her on regular occasion while she was on base. From my understanding, they do not provide psychological support for soldiers not in active combat (Do not quote me on this, I'm not 100% sure). During our conversations, she would often speak of the officials as being disinterested in what she had to say regarding her psychological condition, and they would insist that she returned to her quarters without providing any support whatsoever; this is even following a nervous breakdown. This is cruel and inhumane in my opinion.
- twiztidsinz, on 01/29/2009, -3/+7How about YOU stay the course and eat a bullet.
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