what do you think is the main reason behind the increase in Suicide rate in the U.S. army ?

The trials of urban warfare, not being able to have a clear enemy, not being able to rely on their "allies", corruption in the civilian oversight, multiple lengthy deployments, reduced support on the home front, lowered benefits, etc.

These all contribute to an increase in stress and lead to real psychological issues.

The one thing I can tell you is there are a lot of things that happen emotionally and physically that take a huge toll on some people. Everyone handles stress differently and it also effects people in many different ways. It can range from things they seen or did while on deployment or things that happened back home while they were gone.

When I was in Afghanistan my girlfriend at the time decided to just up and forget me and stop writing to me at the absolute most stressful time of the deployment. That sucked and was tough to deal with, but you find ways to pull through. Others don't.

The other thing that messed with me was when I got out and had returned home. I felt pretty proud of myself and all I'd accomplished in the 4 years I was in until I started watching the news and looking around online and seeing how many people despised what I was so proud of. It made me feel like I had thrown those 4 years away to see the people I was fighting for saying that what I had just done was for nothing. Those are just a few of the many issues that we deal with when returning from a combat zone.

A factor, not the main one, is murder. Japanese police (ask any Japanese) are notoriously lazy and non-confrontational. Many murders are labelled as suicides to cut down paperwork, and crime statistics. (Basically, it's easier to say someone jumped off a building, rather than being pushed by pissed off loansharks.) There isn't even a national police force, like the FBI. All crimes are handled by local or state(prefectural) police. Law enforcement in Japan is pretty pathetic and amateurish (which sucks if they set their sights on YOU) But that's another issue. We can't know the exact percentage of murders labelled as suicides, but officially Japan has about 1400 murder cases each year, but 30,000 plus suicides. Wonder how that compares to other countries. But still, suicide is very high here in Japan.

Justifying killing somebody is much like mourning. Murder in the name of Nationalism is a tough sell to the coscnience.

More importantly, combat stress is something that can fatigue your brain neurons and mess up the wiring. The explosions, men yelling, your heart racing, all of this chaos can be hard to take in. Especially as you fight fear and panic and act as a soldier. This causes significant catastrophic damage to many areas of the brain but also increases your reflexes and awareness of the world.

Depression usually comes from being traumatized in such a way. I was just reading about how on V-day only 1/100 men that fired their gun actually shot live ammunition at the enemy. Guns were jammed with sand, some guys just reloading and shooting not realizing nothing was coming out. Being in the middle of combat can mess you up that much. It isn't natural.

I think these men and women feel trapped in a never-ending nightmare. Many of them did not volunteer because of a love of war or the notion that our country was in dire peril. Those who did feel that way discovered later that this was a sham, as far as Iraq is concerned. Many of them joined the service simply because the door to the future for young people in this country has been slammed shut, with no jobs available and college so expensive it is unaffordable for many without sliding into unmanageable debt.

After tour after tour of duty, after being forced into actions that go against the morals and principles they were brought up to believe, with their lives at home at a standstill, girlfriends and wives going on to new lives in many cases, these brave people simply crack.

What human being wouldn't falter?...kicking down doors and shooting man, woman and child, fearful of explosive devices that tear the body into shreds, showers that electricute, Humvees that aren't reinforced, elite officers that show no concern, and a sanctimonious group telling you that you are a "Soldier of the Lord," and to go out and kill!

This is not war. This is madness. The sooner we get our soldiers out of that quagmire, the better. They have seen brutality, death, destruction and endless service in a low-paying position, while a company of paid fighters are given top dollar. They have seen their buddies blown apart, or shipped off with no legs, arms or eyes. They know that their future, if they have one, will be endless bureaucratic struggle. It is no wonder their depression has led them to suicidal thoughts, and this is something the Support The Troops bunch has forgotten to remedy.

as soon as they step forward the process to dehumanize desensitize and to brainwash is put into place there given a false sense of reality in there quest to be all that they can be once this is done the subject him or her is then placed on the battle field think about it in the army you have the right to take another humans life its almost as if you are god the freedom to take life tortue life now take this person out of the army put him in the real reality and this same individual is now not able to even get a job there left with a feeling of emptiness inside right after having a job in which there job was to take the lives of others so with somuch violence killing becomes nothing so they are unable to cope with the real world where they cannot kill to relive stress they then blame themselves and build up self hatred so much as to where they commit sucicde as far as the increase it is becacause they are not given enough treatment and therapy which is expensive .

Suicide seems to be an ever increasing issue among the united states these days. That's real depressing I didn't know it was so high among service men and woman. I guess you can chalk it all up to post traumatic stress but everyone is different as they say. Real depressing.

They are doing and witnessing amoral acts that their minds can't deal with.

The war crimes and abuse in Vietnam led to increased suicides as well as massive drug use.

Stress , guilt, loneliness, difficulty in accepting change. Its agression turned inward rather than outward.

Its a natural result for innocent killings.