Six American soldiers who were stationed in Alaska have committed suicide in the initial five months of the current year that too after millions of dollars invested by the army to tackle the health crisis as it was detected in 2019.
The number of suicides among the 11,500 soldiers in Alaska has equaled the toll of the previous year as seven of them committed suicide while they were stationed in Alaska.
While suicide rates among the military are similar to those among civilians, the rate among the comparatively small group of Alaska-based soldiers seems to be approximately four times that of the general population in the United States.
Soldiers stationed in Alaska have identified minus 60-degree weather, a high frequency of training and deployment, and physical and social isolation as significant difficulties in their life. The comparatively high expense of living, alcohol misuse, sleep difficulties, and long, gloomy winter all contribute to mental health difficulties in the Land of the Midnight Sun. According to the CDC, Alaska had the nation’s second-highest suicide rate among the general population in 2019.
The Army found these and other issues after a spate of 11 soldier suicides at Fort Wainwright between January 2014 and March 2019. According to the 2019 study, a study of 4,000 troops there discovered that 10.8 percent had voiced suicidal thoughts.
According to the research, Soldiers highlighted the low quality of life, alcohol usage, inadequate coping skills, less resources, stigma, and isolation as factors leading to suicide conduct.
Additionally, a poll discovered that almost one-third of the troops at Fort Wainwright had difficulty sleeping. Sunlight varies between four and twenty-one hours per day in December and up to twenty-one hours per day in June.
Soldiers reported worry about the availability of healthy, high-quality food, with one-third expressing worry about a lack of funds to purchase it. A third of those questioned said that their bosses permitted risky drinking while being off duty.
