by Abigayle Lee

Created on: November 18, 2010   Last Updated: November 19, 2010

The United States Army has been battling five years of increasing suicide rates among soldier's; 2009 suicide total 147 soldiers, the highest since the Army began recording suicide data.  Currently 2/3 of all suicide death's in the Army are amongst soldiers that have been deployed to Iraq or Afghanistan and 1/3 of those deaths occurred in a war zone.  A soldier with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) is six times more likely to commit suicide, according to General Peter Chiarelli.  Chiarelli is the Army's top suicide fighter and shared thoughts with government officials in 2009 that PTSD and substance abuse combined with a shortage of mental health professionals, leads to a soldier taking his own life.  He also stated that one out of every five soldier's returns from deployment with symptoms of PTSD that is one of the most debilitating injuries from war in Iraq or Afghanistan.

Soldier's that struggle with PTSD report they lose the willing to live and leads to thoughts of how to kill themselves.  PTSD is a very severe anxiety disorder that is common after multiple deployments and if left untreated can be devastating for soldier and their family as well.  Many signs of PTSD include: 

Physical:  Fatigue, Chest Pain, Twitching, Weakness, Insomnia, Nightmares, Trouble Breathing, Tremors, Grinding Teeth, Sweating, Heart Pounding, Intestinal Problems and Headaches

Behavioral:  Soldier may be withdrawn and exhibit anti - social actions.  They can experience extreme restlessness and be paranoid or suspicious.  Emotional outbursts and increased alcohol consumption or other substance abuse is also common.

Emotional:  An extreme feeling of panic, anxiety, fear and apprehension are commonly reported.  Panic and anxiety attacks or intense anger issues may arise due to their agitation and fear or depression.  Denial is all to common when symptoms arise and they refuse to seek help even upon insistence from family members or friends.  Intense anger may lead to an increased risk of violent behavior even when they may never have been violent in the past.

Combined with the fact a soldier returning from a deployment is suffering from PTSD a new awareness has raised the issue of spouse's of deployed soldier's experiencing PTSD as well.  Army spouses have been "trained" on how to support their loved one deployed, left with instructions on how to take over all the responsibilities their spouse is in

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