Here I go again. I just have to say this at great risk.

[keithyboy]

24 suicides among our troops in Iraq?

Warnings from pharmeceutical companies about "anti-depressent" drugs because they may contribute to suicide?

Remember the report about giving "uppers" to our pilots flying attacks on Iraq?

What are we giving our troops? Are there dots here? Can you connect them? Shouldn't there be some kind of investigation into this?

[Az]

1. We are giving them stress

24 suicides is not beyond what could be expected. The problem with antidepressants in the case of depressed people is it can trigger impulsiveness. The meds do not rid them of the issues initiating the depression. Thus the impulsiveness can lead to acting on suicidal thoughts.

[Mari333]

5. Which is why I sent bottle of CQ10 to my kid in Iraq

a Vet on here told me to send him that..its a stress reducer...any little thing I can, I send him. To help him cope. IMO it may mean the difference between life and death for him.
http://www.bringthemhomenow.com

[Katarina]

6. Yes they are under stress

but - we have known for quite some time of the link between drugs like prozac and suicide. This is nothing new. And it struck me as odd that this warning would come out like it did. And then this report on low morale and suicides. These are linked somehow. Maybe this will be the governments way of making excuses when our guys come home from Iraq and commit suicide. They could say it wasn't caused by the war per se...but from the medication given to them after they are diagnosed with PTSD.
That's my thoughts on it. My husband says I have a very evil mind. That's what it takes to figure anything about this evil administration.

[belle]

2. Oh Christ.

1) I take anti-depressants. Many people take anti-depressants. They make the vast majority of us feel better, not worse.

2) Maybe, just maybe, people are killing themselves in Iraq because, y'know, WAR IS FUCKING DEPRESSING. Especially a war in which they're being treated like cannon fodder, and keep getting their end of duty terms pushed back; and it's becoming increasingly apparent that whatever horrible things they did and saw and experienced happened for NOTHING. In other words, SCREWED. On an epic, existential scale. I'm not surprised the poor bastards are resorting to suicide. You don't need to throw in some half-baked plot between Eli Lilly and the military-industrial complex, really.

[keithyboy]

4. Well, the main point is are we giving our troops drugs? If so, what kind?

I don't want to frighten depressed people any more than the pharmaceuticals are already doing, but one just has to wonder about what the hell our military leaders might stoop to.

[yardwork]

3. I think that the reasons for the suicides have more to do

with the frustrating nature of this mission than with their meds. Sure, inappropriate meds may be contributing to the problem, but the huge problem is that young people are being sent into hell without supplies, equipment, food, or medical care. We're supposed to have won this war by now, and instead our troops are being blown up by hidden attackers everyday.

It must be horrible over there. Anxiety and depression must be rampant. We're going to have problems with this for decades even after this stupid war ends.

W is such an ass.

[Mari333]

8. add to that their worries about their families at home

the fact that Bu*sh cut their veterans pay, cut benefits to their families, and these are mostly weekend people who signed up for weekends in the guard and reserves.
These are not full time military, they come from regular homes with regular people, probly havent been out of the state they live in let alone the country, and are terrified beyond belief. Add the heat to that, the horrors they are seeing, and the furious anger of the Iraqi civilians.
Really a bad mix.
Bu*sh got us into it. Now we have to get out of it .
and your money paid for it.
Fucking bastards.
http://www.bringthemhomenow.com

[justjones]

7. If our troops are on anti-depressants.....

It's most likely they are suffering from depression and therefore more likely to be suicidal in the first place. I knew a Marine who wouldn't even say what he witnessed in Desert Storm, so I can't imagine what they are going through now.

Whatever it is, I'm sure a lot of them are going to come back with post traumatic stress disorders and a host of other mental illnesses.

My point being that it's war and the mental anguish it causes that is causing them to commit suicide, not meds. IMHO, of course.

[Cleita]

9. It's the heat. Yes, I overheard this being said on CNN this morning.

:eyes:

[latebloomer]

10. Oh, but they should just laugh about it

like Shrubbie does! Then they'll feel better!

"Where ARE those weapons of mass destruction??"

Chortle, chortle!!

[scottcsmith]

11. It's not uncommon, and it's more the military culture

I was treated for depression right after the first Gulf war. There were quite a few of us being treated (I was in group therapy). There's a macho culture in the military that doesn't regard mental illness as a "real" illness, so it goes unreported, but as we've seen in Iraq, you can only push a person so far before the depression gets the best of them. It's not something men are supposed to have nor talk about, being depressed in the military. It's a sign of weakness.

The people that do get treated often will just be discharged from the service, sometimes on disability. It's just not an environment that lends itself to recovery from mental illness.

[TreasonousBastard]

12. May not be a connection...

between drugs and suicides in the military.

Suicide has always been a problem, and I remember back in the Viet Nam days there were attempts even in basic training. There were other attempts, and some self-mutilations, in relatively peaceful and laid back units in Germany. In every case, nothing official was said, and the individual just disappeared into the base hospital and then to parts unknown. Once in a while we heard from one who was discharged on a Section 8 after much harassment and judicial hearings. Suicide was illegal under the Universal Code of Military Justice. But only if you didn't succeed.

I don't pretend to know from stress, clinical depression, or any other specific cause, but I do know that there are a lot of people who just can't fit into the military structure, even without being shot at.

[keithyboy]

13. Any response from the nightliners?

shouldn't we be asking for more info about this?