Soldier Suicides in Iraq Rose Last Year
Tuesday, December 19, 2006; 5:13 PM
WASHINGTON -- Suicides among soldiers sent to Iraq swung back up last year after a decline, and Army officials said Tuesday it was difficult to interpret the development.
Lt. Gen. Kevin Kiley, the Army surgeon general, said suicides climbed to a rate of 19.9 per 100,000 in 2005, just above the 18.8 rate of 2003. It had fallen to 10.5 in 2004.
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The actual number of suicides in Iraq were 25 soldiers in 2003, 12 in 2004 and 22 in 2005.
"We consider one suicide to be too many," Kiley told Pentagon reporters in releasing a mental health survey, taken a year ago but made public Tuesday. It contains the most recent figures the military has made available.
Kiley said it is difficult to interpret the change because such wide variations are typical in statistics when such small numbers are involved.
The main reasons for the suicides were relationship problems, legal problems and problems with other soldiers, according to the survey.
The rate of suicide was higher for troops in Iraq than for soldiers not deployed to the war _ 19.9 per 100,000 compared to 13 per 100,000 for the overall Army. Kiley noted that those in Iraq are carrying weapons, whereas troops at home with problems may resort to alcohol or something less lethal.
Kiley's office established mental health teams after the start of the war, and they have been taking annual surveys _ the latest polled nearly 1,500 soldiers and more than 400 health care providers in October and November 2005.
Other findings in the report:
_Troops involved in training Iraqi security forces reported higher morale than those serving on combat teams, partly because they felt their work was part of the solution in Iraq.
_95 percent of troops reported that mental health care is readily available to them.
_The number of those who felt that seeking help was a sign of weakness declined to 28 percent from 35 percent.
_13.6 percent of soldiers reported acute stress symptoms such as nightmares or reliving an incident, and 16.5 percent reported a combination of depression, anxiety and acute stress. That is in keeping with other studies showing some 30 percent of troops report high stress.
_Troops sent a second time to Iraq reported greater stress rates than first-timers. Some 12 percent serving their initial deployment reported acute stress, compared to 18.4 percent of those serving a repeat deployment.
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On the Net:
The report is online at http:/
