The most recent numbers from the American Foundation of Suicide Prevention show a .4% increase in suicide rates from 2009-2010 in the US. However, suicide rates among our military has risen an alarming 16% from 2011-2012. More military members have died due to suicide than combat-related deaths for the past 4 years. In 2012, 349 military members took their own life, exceeding both the projection coming from the DoD (325) & the amount of American troops killed in combat-related deaths in Afghanistan (295). The most disheartening part to this is that suicide, in most cases is totally preventable. There must be more vigiliance regarding mental health & putting an end to the idea that speaking with pychiatrists or counselors will cost servicemembers their security clearance or their career.
This is historical material “frozen in time”. The website is no longer updated and links to external websites and some internal pages may not work.
