West Point addressing recent suicides

[unhappycamper]

Suicides are first since 1999
Deaths are part of a larger trend in the Army


West Point addressing recent suicides
By Kimberly Hefling - The Associated Press
Posted : Thursday Feb 12, 2009 5:19:05 EST

WASHINGTON — Following four suicides at the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, officials said Wednesday they are emphasizing to cadets that seeking help for mental health problems won’t jeopardize their military careers.

In the last seven months, two cadets, a faculty member and a staff member at the academy have taken their lives. The suicides were the first at the school in upstate New York since 1999.

They are part of a larger trend as the strained military wages war in Iraq and Afghanistan. The Army had its highest rate of suicide on record in 2008 and is investigating a spike in the number in January.

Academy Chaplain Col. John Cook, who addressed the issue Wednesday at a board meeting on Capitol Hill, said there does not appear to be a common denominator among the four West Point suicides — the most recent of which occurred in January. None of the four had faced a recent deployment, for example.

In addition to the suicides, two cadets recently attempted to take their own lives, he said.


Rest of article at: http://armytimes.com/news/2009/02/ap_west_point_suicides_021109/%2e