Army studying high rate of suicide among US soldiers in Iraq

[lebkuchen]

WASHINGTON, Oct 13 (AFP) - The US army has sent mental health specialists to Iraq to determine why so many soldiers are committing suicide there, a US media report said Monday.

Eleven US soldiers and three Marines have killed themselves in the past seven months in Iraq -- an annualized rate of 17 suicide per 100,000 soldiers. The usual rate of army suicides is 13 per 100,000 soldiers, the report in the USA Today newspaper said.


http://www.ptd.net/webnews/wed/ce/Qus-iraq-suicide.RqrO_DOD.html

[RobertSeattle]

1. FYI - this has been posted multiple times today

[damnraddem]

2. Given the numbers, the rate is meaningless.

I would have expected a much larger difference. My question: given the conditions, the open-endedness of the stay, and what some are asked to do, why isn't the suicide rate more elevated?