The Associated Press reports today that suicides among service members climbed to record high of 349 in 2012, 48 more than in 2011.
The Associated Press reports today that suicides among service members climbed to record high of 349 in 2012, 48 more than in 2011.
Here’s a link to Robert Burns’ piece describing the increase. It includes the troubling observation that people studying the rising number of suicides do not expect the trend to reverse.
Read more here: http://blog.thenewstribune.com/military/2013/01/14/military-suicides-climb-to-record-number-in-2012/
The number of suicides in Benton and Franklin counties appears to be flat or on the decline compared to recent years, but the local Crisis Response Unit is seeing more people who are more seriously ill.
"We are seeing more people and getting more phone calls," said Kyle Sullivan, clinical supervisor for the crisis unit. "Things have just been very busy here."
Numbers from the two county coroners show a slight dip in the number of suicides in 2012 compared to 2011.
The numbers are still moving in the wrong direction, but Army chaplain Capt. Matthew Hebebrand isn’t losing heart as he heads into another round of suicide-prevention briefings at Joint Base Lewis-McChord.
At the close of 2012, one of Sen. Patty Murray’s measures to improve care for war veterans passed into law and another died without reaching the president’s desk.
The U.S. military has faced two epidemics over the last decade of war in Afghanistan and Iraq.
Nate Evans had three children depending on him and held down a good job running a hyperbaric chamber at a hospital.
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