Army official: Suicides in January 'Terrifying'

In yet another example of the cluster fuck left to the nation by the Chimperator and Emperor Palpatine Cheney, the U.S. Army has announced more dreadful news about the soaring suicide rate among our servicemen. Knowing men - and women - who have been deployed over and over again, often witnessing horrifying carnage, it really should be no surprise that this phenomenon is occurring. Especially in light of the fact that often quality mental health care is not provided to service members. The Bush/Cheney regime talked alot about "supporting the troops," but in reality, they might just as well have told our armed services members to "go fuck themselves." Talk is cheap and that's all these evil men put out. Here are some highlights from CNN:
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One week after the U.S. Army announced record suicide rates among its soldiers last year, the service is worried about a spike in possible suicides in the new year. The Army said 24 soldiers are believed to have committed suicide in January alone -- six times as many as killed themselves in January 2008, according to statistics released Thursday.

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If those prove true, more soldiers will have killed themselves than died in combat last month. According to Pentagon statistics, there were 16 U.S. combat deaths in Afghanistan and Iraq in January. "This is terrifying," an Army official said. "We do not know what is going on."

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Col. Kathy Platoni, chief clinical psychologist for the Army Reserve and National Guard, said that the long, cold months of winter could be a major contributor to the January spike. . . . But Platoni said she sees the multiple deployments, stigma associated with seeking treatment and the excessive use of anti-depressants as ongoing concerns for mental-health professionals who work with soldiers. Those who are seeking mental-health care often have their treatment disrupted by deployments. Deployed soldiers also have to deal with the stress of separations from families.

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Platoni also said that while the military has made a lot of headway in training leaders on how to deal with soldiers who may be suffering from depression or post-traumatic stress disorder, "there is still a huge problem with leadership who shame them when they seek treatment." The anti-depressants prescribed to soldiers can have side effects that include suicidal thoughts. Those side effects reportedly are more common in people 18 to 24.

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The 2008 numbers were the highest annual level of suicides among soldiers since the Pentagon began tracking the rate 28 years ago. The Army said 128 soldiers were confirmed to have committed suicide in 2008, and an additional 15 were suspected of having killed themselves. The statistics cover active-duty soldiers and activated National Guard and reserves. . . . Suicides for Marines were also up in 2008. There were 41 in 2008, up from 33 in 2007 and 25 in 2006, according to a Marines report.