2011 U.S. Army Suicides Reached Unprecedented Level

by Mitchel L. Zoler 
Family Practice News Digital Network, April 26, 2012

BALTIMORE – Suicides by active-duty soldiers in the U.S. Army reached their highest level in history last year, with 164 confirmed instances of soldiers taking their lives.

This unprecedented level came in the seventh consecutive year of steadily increasing suicide rates; in 2008, the suicide rate among active-duty U.S. Army personnel exceeded the prevailing civilian rate for the first time in history, and in the years following 2008 the annual rate among soldiers continued to rise, Maj. Gen. L.P. Chang said at the annual conference of the American Association of Suicidology.

“The Army takes this very seriously because our most valuable asset is our soldiers,” said Gen. Chang, commanding general of the 807th Medical Command based in Fort Douglas, Utah. He noted that in 2009, with the Army’s leadership recognizing that…