'No Epidemic' Number Of Soldier Suicides In Iraq
By Gerry J. Gilmore
American Forces Press Service
WASHINGTON, Jan. 29, 2004 – Soldiers serving in Iraq are
not committing suicide in record numbers, a senior DoD
military medical officer asserted at the 2004 Tricare
conference here Jan. 28.
"Are soldiers killing themselves in increased numbers due
to deployment?" asked Army Col. Thomas J. Burke, program
director for mental health policy for the assistant
secretary of defense for health affairs. The answer, he
said, is "No."
Today, all of the services "are taking a much more
integrated approach toward suicide prevention and mental
health care support" for service members, Burke said. This
includes before and during deployments, he added, and
after-deployment evaluation and care, if necessary.
Although 19 confirmed soldier suicides have occurred during
Operation Iraqi Freedom, Burke said the Army's suicide rate
"is well within the range of variation" when compared to
the suicide rates for the Army over the last decade.
In fact, overall military suicide rates have remained
stable for over a decade, Burke pointed out. Press reports
alleging that the numbers of military suicides occurring
during the war against terrorism are outside the expected
range based on historic norms are false, he said.
The Marine Corps and the Navy have experienced two suicides
each during Operation Iraqi Freedom, Burke said, noting
that the Air Force has had no suicides. The colonel
attributed the higher total number of Army suicides in Iraq
to the its greater footprint in that theater of operations,
compared to the other services. However, he added, the
Army's overall suicide rate per 100,000 is within the range
the service has experienced over the last 10 or more years.
All of the services, the colonel said, have field-operated
suicide prevention programs. Suicide, he emphasized, "Is
the worst mental health outcome."
He described the symptoms of depression -- trouble
sleeping, lack of energy, hopelessness, thoughts of suicide
-- and added that service members who experience symptoms
of depression that haven't abated in two weeks or so should
seek medical help.
Besides depression, he said, suicide risk factors for
military members, which have remained constant over the
years, include alcohol or drug abuse; relationship,
financial or legal problems; and easy access to firearms.
Co-workers, family members and military leaders –-
including chaplains -- all can help troubled service
members obtain the help they need before a life-threatening
incident occurs, Burke said. Commanders and other leaders,
he continued, should impress upon troops that no stigma is
attached to seeking assistance for depression or for
personal problems that prey upon the mind. Burke referred
to a Marine Corps statistic which showed that 75 percent of
Marines who had committed suicide had not seen a mental
health care provider within the previous year.
Military suicide prevention programs, he maintained, are
leadership programs, not health care programs. It's
especially important, the colonel emphasized, to educate
people that treatment is available.
The good news, Burke said, is that "there is no epidemic of
suicides in Iraq." The bad news is military suicide rates
"are not zero, but we never stop trying to bring them
down," he concluded.
Related Web Site:
Office of the Assistant Secretary of Defense
for Health Affairs
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