“Their suicide rate is so high that it approaches that of male veterans, a finding that surprised researchers because men generally are far more likely than women to commit suicide.”
Perhaps the tendency to suicide is not due to sex, but the trials of combat situations. So as women in the military experience the true horrors of war, they are scarred by it as much as their male counterparts.
“Perhaps the tendency to suicide is not due to sex, but the trials of combat situations. So as women in the military experience the true horrors of war, they are scarred by it as much as their male counterparts.”
Ding ding ding...winner!
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That makes sense.
The majority of suicides for both sexes are those who have never been on a combat deployment, so that's not it. Age/economic background adjusted the rates for males are not that much higher than civilian population; epidemiologists, other analysts have been looking at this data for years, no easy answer. Maybe a significant subset of people in the military are more prone to suicide when facing difficult situations, maybe the toll of a very disciplined, yet unpredictable life, who knows. But it does not seem to be tied to combat.