UK has military suicide problem too

Suicide watch: What is being done to stop our soldiers killing themselves?
UK Metro News
Monday 18 Feb 2013

The numbers are shocking.

Every 65 minutes, a US military veteran takes his own life, the equivalent of 22 former soldiers committing suicide every day.

The statistics, published this month by the US Department of Veterans Affairs, follow figures released earlier this year which show more active-duty US soliders killed themselves (177) in 2012 than died in war zones (176).

Across all services, 349 military personnel committed suicide last year, compared to the 311 American troops killed in combat.

The British military has come to pride itself on the support it provides its troops to avoid such harrowing figures, but there remains concern that more could be done to help service personnel returning from combat, as well as those being discharged back into civilian life.

Studies into the mental health issues suffered by British troops show those under the age of 24 are most at risk, with a report in 2009 suggesting young servicemen were three times more likely to kill themselves compared to civilians in the same age bracket.

Louis Appleby, national director of Mental Health in England, concedes the issue of military suicide is ‘difficult to talk about’.

He said: ‘People are nervous about saying [anything] that could sound a little bit negative about soldiers because they do a job that most of us would not be prepared to do.’

Earlier this month, it was revealed that between 2001 and 2011, 50 British troops committed suicide after tours to Iraq and Afghanistan, with eight taking place during the conflicts and 23 of the remaining 42 killing themselves on Ministry of Defence property.
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The numbers are wrong. US military suicides for 2012 are, 168 soldiers, 84 Army National Guards, 42 Army Reservists, 46 Marines, 53 Sailors, 56 Airmen. Veteran suicide numbers were taken from death certificates with "veteran" and only done in 21 states. In other words, the numbers are not all there. There are also questionable deaths where they are not sure if it was an accident or on purpose.