USA Today has a story today about how an upcoming report will show that this past year, more Army soldiers killed themseles than ever before. As the article states, "A total of 109 suicides this year would equal a rate of 18.4 per 100,000, the highest since the Army started counting in 1980. The civilian suicide rate was 11 per 100,000 in 2004, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention [the CDC].
According to Senator Patty Murray, whose office shared the statistics with USA Today, and who is quoted in the article, "The military hasn't erased the stigma surrounding mental health issues, so 
troubled soldiers often do not seek help." "I want to say I'm surprised...But when we're not doing everything we can to deal with mental health, when we know the Army is under such stress, it's not a surprise. It has to be a wakeup call."
(Although honestly, we should be well past wake-up call on this one.)
The article also mentions efforts the Army has made to combat the problem, including "mandatory training for every soldier about mental health and establishing a program to study its suicides." However, a troubling angle to the whole suicide phenomenon is this one -- "Research released by the Army in August shows that almost 70% of suicides in 2006 were spurred by failed relationships."
Meaning, the soldier was already under significant stress, and the death of a key relationship just piled one more stressor on, and became the proverbial "straw that broke the camel's back."
If there's a concept like "total load" with mental health issues, it could very well be that ordinarily, people are capable of handling "only so much" stress, and when more gets added to the pile, it's hard not to topple under the strain. Each person may have their own "breaking point," whose relative location changes regularly, according to how much stress they're under, or how much support they can count on (in addition to a number of other things.) We're also talking about a younger military here than in years past, including many who didn't expect to be signing up for such extended tours, or possibly even war in the first place (okay, they should have considered it, but many did not). Reservists in particular -- I can think of several people I know who joined to get better civilian benefits, and weren't remotely thinking they'd end up serving in Iraq or Afghanistan.
It will be interesting when more data comes out, and is studied in greater depth, to also take a look at prevalance of suicide, and see what else it's linked to. There's already some concern, backed up by studies, that PTSD affects some troops more than others, and suicide would seem logically to follow those same trends.
In the meantime, thanks to Patty Murray for being a great supporter of veterans. As a longtime Washington state resident, I remember her first being elected to office, and being derided and dismissed during the campaign as a "mom in tennis shoes," whose background as a teacher didn't qualify her for anything political. As her background material indicates, she's the daughter of a disabled World War II veteran, and she's turned out to be an ardent veterans supporter, and the first woman to serve on the Senate Veterans Affairs committee.
For media coverage on the great things she's done to support veterans, read the lower half of this page from her Senate website. As one Seattle newspaper describes her, she's a "workhorse, not a showhorse" -- and thankfully a very committed veterans supporter. We need more. (This link to Project Vote Smart shows her voting record.)
Editor's Note: In related and current news, read the transcript of Todd Bowers, IAVA's director of government affairs, remarks as he testified before Congress yesterday on the topic of veterans suicides. The transcript of his remarks is linked here.
