Army Concerned About Increased Suicide Rates

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

Suicide attempts have also climbed exponentially since the Army began tracking them in 2002, rising from 350 to approximately 2,100 last year. 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 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. The most common cause of suicide in the Army is strained relationships.