Suicide among US soldiers in active service is at record high. The number of soldiers who committed suicide in 2008 rose to about 143 from 115 the previous year. Experts attribute this fact to the attendant pressure in times of war. Army statistics released recently showed that 30 percent of those who committed suicide last year were deployed at the time of their death. Over three quarters of them were in their first deployment.

35 percent of the soldiers who committed suicide had not been deployed before, another 35 percent were killed after being sent into combat, in most cases a year after returning to their bases. The suicide rate last year among soldiers even surpassed the US rate of civilian suicides.

The US army addresses the growing problem of soldier suicide with suicide prevention programs that identify risks to mental health. Additionally, there have been campaigns to reduce the stigma that prevents soldiers from seeking treatment.

Stress is a definite factor behind the increased suicide rate. The wars in Iraq and Afghanistan have taken their toll on the people at the frontlines. Aside from being financially costly, these wars have had a high human cost as well. No human being can ever get inured with the harshness of war. This escalating rate of soldier suicides is but proof that the wars launched by the US have, indeed, been depleting the humanity out of humans. No one wins in a war. If only Bush was sensitive enough to have know that.

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Via Newsweek