Army: soldier suicide rate may set record again

Hmm the science of statistics. Is 93 deaths significant or not? According to internet figures in 2008 the military including reserves was 2,475,967. Death rates are figured per 100,000. In America that figure was calculated again according to the internet at 10.9 per 100,000 people which was a total of 34,439 for about 303,500,000 people estimated in 2008.

With me so far?

Ok here goes the math from a trusty hand held computer on 93 (62 plus 31 possible) figures at about 2.66 deaths per 100,000 in the military counting both reserve and military. Or reverse math we have 24.76 x 10.9 which should equal almost 270 deaths in the military if you use the average of 10.9 deaths per 100,000 in the general population.

The suicide rate based upon these numbers does not indicate a problem compared to the general population! Again not exactly precise since the population is only estimated since the 2010 census has not been done!

Hmm statistically significant personally I don't think so.

How much money was wasted on this study? Who knows? But alarming not to me....

In fact if you go with these numbers if you want to have the odds in your favor join the military. But then again no consideration is given to those who go in "harms way" overseas.

The real story in my opinion are the soldiers who get discharged who later based upon their military experience "then" commit suicide.....

And as Paul Harvey might say "and here is the rest of the story!"

This is both sad and disgusting at the same time. Just look at what these brave young men and women are facing. We have been in iraq longer than we were in world war two. Bush has sent these troops back to serve in active duty in Iraq over and over and over again. To him they are nothing more than cannon fodder. Our service man and women are brave. But not stupid. They never signed up to go (back) to war 2 or 3 or more times.

Why must the innocent die in a war we weren't supposed to be in? How could we allow this event to happen?
Our President assured us that, those who died while serving thier country did not die in vain, but until I see that this war was not encouraged by bloodlust, and greed, I sorely believe they did. May those who died in service rest peacefully.

this is so sad

my friends and i did a play about this called "melancholia" based on a true story we heard on npr

we took it to the fringe festival in scotland last summer and it was really touching to see how moved the european audience was to this issue

when we performed it in LA, it got a lot of mixed reactions, but strong none the less, it's tragic that things like this become "about politics" rather than love.

It must be terrible to feel so hollow and numb from war. My friend's father-in-law has PTSD from Iraq and based off of the nightmares he has you really get a sense of what a tragedy this all is. He says that he never killed anyone but part of me suspects that it's just denial, his way to deal with the awful truth.

When they look at the damage that the Bush-McCain administration has done to the U.S., it probably makes them wonder what difference does it make to live or die. The majority of soldiers come from low to low-middle class families, and must watch their families get poorer and poorer, while corporate and political pigs get rich.

I disagree; it's only a 'fact of life' in these ridiculous circumstances. This is hideous. We have GOT to get our men and women OUT OF THERE, and back to doing what they're supposed to be doing, for causes that they know to be reasoned and sane.

OBAMA 08

The VA has a National Center for PTSD (Post Traumatic Stress Disorder). The Center's website has a Fact Sheet on "The Relationship Between PTSD and Suicide". The fact sheet states: "A large body of research indicates that there is a correlation between PTSD and suicide. There is evidence that traumatic events such as sexual abuse, combat trauma, rape, and domestic violence generally increase a person's suicide risk. Considerable debate exists, however, about the reason for this increase."
http://www.ncptsd.va.gov/ncmain/ncdocs/fact_shts/fs_ptsd_and_suicideprof.html?op...

not to sure what to say but i have a strong belief that if you kill some one in any form being war or self defense that action will scar you for ever. as for the suicide part it is just a way some people deal with something when they cant see a way out. Its sad but its a fact of life...

what do you right-wing sickos think of this?

huh?

answer me damnit!

We have the most powerful brave military in the world. But let's ignore when they kill themselves, beat their wives and rape their kids.

Wave your flag damnit

Combination of alot of things I'm sure.However it is one of the many prices of war.

I'm afraid this will continue for some time.