Suicide Rate Now Likely Double or Triple Civil War

Disappointed in this study because they fail to address the fact that during the Civil War most died following amputations and serious wounds while today, they live on. Had more survived during those dark times in our history, there would have been more suicides. Plus the researchers would also have to take into account how news traveled back then.

How do they know? They don't. Read further down and see the word "estimate" along with what their research was.

What do they think "not deployed" means? Do they think the suicide had nothing to do with combat? How about the fact that most killed and maimed are killed by bombs? Do you think that might just be a factor in being so terrified they'd rather kill themselves now? What about Mefloquine? Hazing? Sexual Assaults? Or a lot of other causes for military suicides in the "31%" never deployed but must have passed their psychological tests, meaning they didn't have any issues when they signed up. When you have these kind of numbers coming out on military suicides, it shows how twisted some research can be when they answer the easy questions but never mention the obvious.

They used to shoot a lot of them for desertion too.

New Study: U.S. Military Suicide Rate Now Likely Double or Triple Civil War’s
By BARTLEY FRUEH AND JEFFREY SMITH
Time Battleland
August 6, 2012

Can medical data from the U.S. Civil War help us better understand military suicides?

Your recent Time cover story in the July 23 issue detailed the tragic facts that suicide rates among active-duty U.S. military personnel rose dramatically over the past decade. Military suicide rates doubled between 2001 and 2006, while remaining flat in the general population, with more military fatalities attributed to suicide than to actual combat in Afghanistan during that period.

To make matters worse, we do not understand why. Stressors related to military training, overseas deployment, transition back to civilian life, and combat are widely believed to be major driving factors. However, 31% of soldiers who committed suicide had never been deployed to a war zone. Furthermore, suicide rates in British military forces have also increased recently, though to a lesser degree, and do not exceed the rate of the general population.

Is there a lack of historical context?

Compounding our inability to understand this current phenomenon is the lack of adequate historical data to provide context on whether high suicide rates were typical of prior wars. Review of archival records from past wars might help shed some light on the current military suicide epidemic.

In a recent study (Frueh & Smith, 2012) we reviewed historical medical records on suicide deaths among Union forces during the U.S. Civil War (1861-1865), a brutal war that many consider the first modern one, and for the year immediately after the war to estimate the suicide rate among its Union combatants. We also reviewed these same historical records for data on rates of alcohol abuse and other probable psychiatric illnesses.
Read more