Combat, frequent deployment not causes of suicide

Suicides among military personnel have little to do with combat or multiple deployments. Instead, military suicides occur for the same reasons as do civilian suicides, a Department of Defense-funded study says.

The study shows “there is no clear link between combat or deployment overseas and the military's suicide rate …”

“Researchers, who tracked 150,000 soldiers from 2001 to 2008, found that most of those who killed themselves were heavy drinkers who suffered from depression or had been diagnosed with manic depression.” CNN reports.

“Surprisingly, being deployed for longer than a year was associated with a lower risk of suicide.”

http://www.newser.com/story/172156/study-no-link-between-combat-military-suicides.html

http://www.cnn.com/2013/08/06/health/soldier-suicides-cause-study/


(Somewhere down the posts is one about a discussion between another Vietnam veteran and me, his assertion of every-day suicides in the military and my (loud, my wife said) counter claim. He parroted the line that "the Army" was sending soldiers over too many times, and multiple deployments caused more suicides. Well, suck a lemon, dude.)