US military suffering 'suicide epidemic'

last year duty soldiers committed suicide more active than were killed in combat. And after a decade of deployments in war zones, the Pentagon is preparing to make things worse

Libby

Busbee is almost certain that his son had never read or participated in Macbeth by William Shakespeare, but acted as if he had. Shortly after his return from his last tour of Afghanistan began to rub his hands over and over again and always rinse under the tap.

"Mom, will not wash," he said.

"What are you talking about?" she replied.

"Blood. Not going to go."

On 20 March last year, the soldier who tries to self-cleaning came to a sudden end. That night, he locked himself in his car with his mother and two sisters cried a few meters and SWAT officers surrounding the vehicle, was shot in the head.

At the age of 23 years, William Busbee had joined a frightening statistic. In 2012, for the first time in at least a generation, the number of active duty soldiers who committed suicide, 177, 176 higher than died while in the war zone. In other words, most of the soldiers serving in the U.S. killed with his own hands in pursuit of the enemy.

In all branches of the U.S. military and reserves, a similar trend was recorded troubling. In total, 349 members of the armed forces committed suicide in 2012, while a smaller number, 295 died in battle.

Shocking though these figures are, they are nothing compared to the statistics that technically belongs Busbee. He retired from the army, two months before his death, if death is officially recorded as a veteran - one of the few former soldiers vertiginous 6500 committed suicide in 2012, roughly equivalent to all 80 minutes

"I wanted to be somebody, and he loved the army

Busbee

story, as told by his mother to the Guardian, illuminates crucial aspects of an epidemic that seems to be gaining ground in the U.S. Army, the alarm spread as it grows. It embodies the despair felt by a growing number of serving and retired, and the inability of the military to address their plight.

It is not, however, how the story of William Busbee started. He was in many ways the archetypal American soldier. From the age of six, had only one ambition. To enlist in the army, what he did when he was 17 years

"It was not the normal teenager who came to party," said Libby Busbee. "I wanted to be somebody. He had his mindset on what he wanted, and he loved the army. Could not be more proud of him. "

Once enrolled, was sent to three different trips to Afghanistan. It was the fulfillment of their dreams, but it came at a high price. He came under attack several times, and in a particularly serious incident committed a blow to the head causing a concussion. His body was riddled with bullets so that each time I walk through a screen of airport security would sound the alarm.

environmental costs are also high. Whenever he returned from Afghanistan. From roads or R & R, beat his mother as a little nervous, a little further away. She rarely left the house and looked uncomfortable among civilians. "I think he felt he had no place here," he said.

times Busbee Libby was driving his car when a train near hear his whistle. He was so startled by the noise, he jumped out of the vehicle, leaving crashing on the sidewalk. After that, he never took more than a few tens of meters.

Nights were the worst. He confessed to having nightmares and fear of the dark, so Libby swear not to tell anyone. Then he took to sleeping in a closet with a military sleeping bag hidden inside the small space to recreate the conditions of the deployment. "I think that made him feel more comfortable," says his mother.

After a special evening filled, Libby woke up and discovered that he had cut his face with a knife. From time to time, it alludes to painful events that led to such extreme behavior: it was time for another soldier, aged 18, died at his side, and once he had killed

William told his mother ". You hate me if you knew what I was doing there, "

"I do not hate you." Re The same person you've always been, "she said.

• "No, Mom," he replied. "The beloved son died there."
• Soldiers
• psychological damage

For

William Nash, a former Navy psychiatrist who led combat stress Marine Corps control program, William Busbee expressions of torment are very familiar. He has worked with hundreds of members of armed forces who have been struggling with suicidal thoughts, at least not when he was sent to Fallujah in Iraq at the height of the war in 2004.

He and his colleagues in military psychiatry have developed the concept of "moral damage" to help understand the current wave of mutilation. Which is defined as "damage to their beliefs about good and evil could be caused by anything done or not done, or something you do for you. - But anyway it breaks the sense of moral certainty. "

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