A sharp increase in U.S. Army suicides is likely due to an increase in a range of stresses on soldiers both at home and in war zones, a top Army officer said Thursday.
A 15-month-study on the rise in suicides over the last two years found 160 suicides among active-duty personnel, 1,713 suicide attempts and 146 deaths from high-risk behavior, such as drug abuse, in the year ended Sept. 30, 2009.
The number of suicides has been climbing since 2005 when there were 87 confirmed and unconfirmed suicidGen. Peter Chiarelli, the vice-chief of staff of the Army who has led the effort to reduce suicides, said that 79% of suicides were soldiers who had one deployment or had yet to be deployed.But Gen. Chiarelli said it wasn't just the stress of war that weighed heavily on soldiers, but also stresses from back home"For us
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