Army Continues Fight Against Suicides

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Army Continues Fight Against Suicides
May 30, 2008
Army News Service|by Elizabeth M. Lorge

WASHINGTON - Despite a new report showing that 2007 had the Army's highest suicide rate since record-keeping began in 1980, Army officials told Pentagon reporters Thursday that new prevention and mental-health efforts are helping Soldiers.

There were 115 suicides last year in the active Army, with two cases still pending, according to the 2007 Army Suicide Event Report, compiled by Army medical officials and force-protection reports. This was up from 102 suicides in 2006. To date, the Army has 38 confirmed suicides for 2008, with 12 pending.

The 2007 numbers include 93 active-duty Soldiers and 22 mobilized reserve-component Soldiers. When not mobilized, the National Guard and Army Reserve track suicide numbers differently, and lost an additional 53 Soldiers.

There were also 935 active-duty suicide attempts, which Col. Elspeth C. Richie, psychiatry consultant to the Army's surgeon general, said includes any self-inflicted injury that leads to hospitalization or evacuation. This number is less than half of the approximately 2,100 attempts reported in 2006.

Richie and Brig. Gen. Rhonda Cornum, assistant surgeon general for force protection, didn't like the upward trend of the past few years, and said the Army is making huge changes in its culture and the way it perceives mental healthcare to help Soldiers.


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