13% of deployed Marines consider suicide 2006-2007

If it was this bad back then, what would a new study show?

Study: 13% of deployed Marines consider suicide
By Gidget Fuentes
Staff writer
Posted : Thursday May 31, 2012

SAN DIEGO — More than one in 10 Marines who deployed overseas reported having suicidal thoughts or plans to attempt suicide, according to a study looking at suicidal predictors.

As part of the study, which was briefed at the Navy-Marine Corps Combat Operational Stress conference here in late May, researchers sought to identify potential links to suicidal behavior that may have been evident within a month before a Marine attempted to take his life. They analyzed variables such as post-traumatic stress symptoms, depression, substance or alcohol abuse, and social support, looking also at “negative life events,” such as trauma prior to deploying, combat exposure and the “mundane” worries of everyday life.

“In our sample, unfortunately, 13 percent of people reported some type of suicidal thoughts or plans,” said Cynthia Thomsen, a research psychologist with the Naval Health Research Center.

The anonymous study of 1,517 active-duty Marines and sailors was conducted in 2006-2007. A wide cross-section of the Corps was represented, including the infantry, aviation and combat support communities.

Most participants were male (93 percent) and from the junior enlisted ranks (E-1 to E-4). Nearly half had done more than one overseas deployment, but 11 percent were not combat-related.
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