More Army Suicides Than Combat Deaths in Jan.

clipped from www.msnbc.msn.com A spike in soldier suicides last month has the Army worried. A new federal report shows the number is higher than those who died in actual combat. In January there were 24 possible Army suicides. Seven are confirmed while 14 more are under investigation. That equals more deaths than the ones reported in combat from Iraq and Afghanistan, by all branches of the Armed Forces. "One magnificent young man from our community that we sent away, great student, great great athlete, they have him on 18 different medications right now," said Mike Black, President of the Columbia Basin Veterans Coalition in Pasco. Black says this spike in suicides is likely to get worse before it gets better. He also tells us combat related stress and disorders for many of these troops are carried home with them.

Kind of a follow up to my Friday post.

The problem is that the Army can't afford to diagnose Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, since PTSD patients can't return to combat. So they diagnose other, less serious disorders and treat them with pills. Not only do the pills come with suicide warnings, but they're "treating" a problem these troops don't have.

So there's a double-whammy; troops with PTSD aren't being treated for PTSD, but other disorders, and the antidepressants and anti-anxiety medications are psychotropic drugs that come with risk of suicidal thoughts.

We are, quite literally, killing our troops by pretending to treat disorders they don't actually have -- while not treating the disorder they do.