http://www.caller.com/ccct/state_texas_news/article/0,1641,CCCT_876_2449549,00.html I had no idea that so many of our troops have killed themselves over in Iraq, it's depressing really. +
SEVENTEEN?! Wow, I had no idea it was even *close* to that many. Geez. It's not really that surprising, though -- more than 2,500 fellow soldiers have been seriously injured, 425 have been killed, 17 have killed themselves, and they never know when the next bomb or guerrilla attack will happen. There's absolutely *no way* I can imagine the mental strain these guys are under.
Beyond that, you're bound to have some soldier who just have the same clinical depression that many other Americans have. It doesn't take being in a situation such as the current one in Iraq to become suicidal. But I would expect the suicide rate there to be higher than normal rate within the U.S. simply because the situation can exacerbate many of the feelings that lead people to believe suicide is their only option. I thought this line, though, was weird: The troops in Iraq include thousands of women, who typically have a lower suicide rate than men. I'm pretty sure we have a lot of women in the general population here in the U.S., too. Probably a higher percentage than the troops in Iraq have (actually, I'm quite sure of that).
I would say that being in a high stress situation like a war just compounds what is already in some people.
