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US Special Ops suicides triple in 2018 as military confronts the issue

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https://edition-m.cnn.com/2019/02/0...ike-2018/index.html?r=https://www.reddit.com/


US Special Ops suicides triple in 2018, as military confronts the issue

Washington (CNN) — Suicides among active duty military personnel assigned to US Special Operations Command tripled in 2018, in a disturbing and as yet unexplained spike, CNN has learned.

Special Operations units saw 22 deaths by suicide in 2018, almost triple the eight cases seen in 2017, according to figures provided to CNN by the command.

SOCOM, as it's known, is the unified combatant command charged with overseeing the various Special Operations component of the Army, Marine Corps, Navy and Air Force that take on counterterrorism and other specialized missions.

Based in Tampa, Florida, the command includes some of the military's most highly trained and effective fighting forces, including the Army's Delta Force and the Navy's SEAL Team Six.

While sudden spikes in suicide rates have been noted in both the military and civilian populations, military officials who spoke to CNN said what has happened at SOCOM is striking. The surge in SOCOM suicides comes as the Marine Corps and Navy are experiencing 10-year highs in the number of suicide deaths.
 
The biggest problem in dealing with suicide prevention and other mental health issues is that service members do not want to come forward with any type of mental health problem because they will most likely lose their job. I knew several people in my career field over the years who self identified issues and were then not allowed to continue working on the aircraft and some had their security clearances suspended. My last few years having and working with people with higher security clearances, any sign of any issue at all would get their clearance suspended, at least temporally.......I can imagine what they do with Special ops personnel, its probably magnified a hundred fold........
 
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