Canada's military suicide rate doubled in a year, documents show

There's taht good old CBC bias again:

But a spokesperson for the Department of National Defence said last night that suicide rates among forces' personnel were lower than those among the general populace.

"The rate of suicide among male CF personnel during the period 2005-2007 was lower than the rate during the period 2000-2004," Lt.-Col. Jamie Robertson said in an email to The Canadian Press.

He said statistical comparisons since 2004 were not possible as Statistics Canada had not yet made information on Canadian mortality rates available for this period.

"From 2000 to 2004, the rate of suicide among Canadian males approximated 25 per 100,000, or one in 4,000. Over the same period, the rate of suicide among male CF personnel approximated 19.1 per 100,000, or one in 5,236. This means that the rate of suicide among male CF personnel between 2000 and 2004 was about 75 per cent of the rate among Canadian males, once the two have been age-standardized," Robertson said.

Are you shocked that the CBC would deliberatly slant an article to reflect poorly on DND? I know it comes as no surprise to me. Remember the only thing with any truth on the CBC is Hockey Night in Canada!

Well I shouldnt comment given the subject.. but cant resist.. the stats for suicide in the Military esp those who have been to Afghanistan is increasing..
there are increasing numbers returning with PTSD.. There are some who seek treatment off the base to avoid steriotyping and other forms of back lash.. I have been involved in their treatment as a psych nurse,working with psychiatrists and psychologists. Might be due to the fact that some are very young and dont have the experience.. I dont know but I do know they are seeking help other than from the military docs..

Did you even read the article? The suicide rate in the Forces is LOWER than the national average, and has been for as long as I can remember. Don't let facts interfer with your pre-concieved notions though.

yes it might be lower in the forces than the national average.. could quote some high risks groups here.. but it is fairly high in the miltary for those who have been to the middle east.. I dont have any pre-conceived anything and I am NOT being critical of the military. I have looked after men and women who have returned and some have been placed on constant watch due to suicidal ideation. if you look at the per capita of the country then yes the numbers in the Military would be lower,,, makes sense.. if you look at the ratio of the number in the forces to the number who have been to Afghanistan then you would get at different picture.. stands to reason.. you could also break it down to catagory..ie army personnel as to say naval etc. does that make sense to you?

Actually if you go back to the "dark days" of the early Balkan tours, the suicide rate amongst the Forces was higher then while "peacekeeping" than it is today "warfighting".

So much for the vaunted "blue beret peacekeeping" the left want to go back to. Undermanned, underarmed, and a higher suicide rate. Wait, that's exactly why the left wants to go back to those days.

dont think all lefties do... do you like my new avatar.? its the result of the beating I take on here ;;)

I had a buddy that commited the act in 88 because his wife left him. I gotta say that no matter how it happens suicide is bad. I hate to see another fellow soldier go in any type of manner. Moreover 2Cdo is right though, the media does not like the military never has since the Trudeau era and the FLQ event.
I know that most of the guys and gals that are in mission want to complete it and believe in what they are doing. They have the power of conviction and the media hates anyone being convinced of any absolutes. Because then they can't change their minds and they hate them having influence over other people's minds.

Last time I checked we had an all volunteer Military. Normally takes about 6 months to process release papers, though based on a number of factors can be as quick as 30 days. 2Cdo as usual has hit the nail on the head when he said the blue berets were undermanned, underarmed and had a higher suicide rate. Books on Canadians in the Balkans and Rwanda provide lots of detail on how impotent blue berets were, and how not being able to stop genocide or ethnic cleansing affected them psychologically. Now we have the tools and equipment to do the job properly. Making a difference and contributing gives good job satisfaction. Unfortunately in the current campaign there are many horrific incidents and people getting killed. Being a witness to or involved in an IED explosion has got to be tough especially if people you know have been killed or maimed.

Look on the bright side, Dion won't be party leader forever. Once the Lib's have a new leader (Iggy) they will probably win even if they campain in their birthday suites and do nothing but grunt like wild animals.

An old friend of mine went to Srebrenica when he was 20... He was a good guy when he went there, he was a broken man when he came back...

I can only hope he is still alive, I haven't talked to him in ages, but when I saw him last, he was not doing well. It was his choice to break our friendship...

Look on the bright side, Dion won't be party leader forever. Once the Lib's have a new leader (Iggy) they will probably win even if they campain in their birthday suites and do nothing but grunt like wild animals.

Iggy versus Steve will be really interesting, as both seem to be on the same page on a number of issues most notably Afstan, neither have any real charisma, (although both have more than Dion) Iggy is an intellectual, and Steve has proven himself to be a master tactician. Time will tell.

was just about to say something nasty but I wont. thougt the topic was Canada's military suicide rate doubled in a year, documents show .. how did we get to steve and Iggy.. ? oh well.

It probably just a policy shift to save the government money. Classifying deaths as suicide saves them paying the families pensions and insurance.