Army suicide rate could pass rate for general population this year

[a.e.B.O.T.]

Could the length of the war mean anything? Keep going back to a war zone, people KEEP dying, gunshot KEEP getting fired, the paranoia CONTINUES to persist... its also summer, and they are in the desert, and its bloody hot... kind of a jarhead sort of thing...

[AGDee]

Originally Posted by a.e.B.O.T.

Could the length of the war mean anything? Keep going back to a war zone, people KEEP dying, gunshot KEEP getting fired, the paranoia CONTINUES to persist... its also summer, and they are in the desert, and its bloody hot... kind of a jarhead sort of thing...

They are also going for longer tours with less time in between tours. And add in stop loss on top of it. So, just when you think you're about to get out and go home for good, nope. Realize that we've been in Iraq longer than we were in WWII.

ETA: It's not fair to compare the military vs. civilian demographics anyway because people with known mental illness aren't supposed to be in the service to begin with. Granted, the expected age of onset for clinical depression and bipolar disorder is in the same age range as those serving, but they've still been screened to some extent.

[bluefish81]

Originally Posted by AGDee

They are also going for longer tours with less time in between tours. And add in stop loss on top of it. So, just when you think you're about to get out and go home for good, nope. Realize that we've been in Iraq longer than we were in WWII.

ETA: It's not fair to compare the military vs. civilian demographics anyway because people with known mental illness aren't supposed to be in the service to begin with. Granted, the expected age of onset for clinical depression and bipolar disorder is in the same age range as those serving, but they've still been screened to some extent.

I agree that it's not fair to compare military to civilian demographics. I wonder if it would be better to compare it to Vietnam, but there was a draft involved with that war. The Iraq and Afghanistan wars haven't gone on for quite as long yet either.