WASHINGTON, Aug. 17 (UPI) -- U.S. Army data indicated 38 suspected suicides among active and reserve soldiers in July, up from the 24 reported in June.
The Defense Department did not explain the surge in a Thursday statement announcing the figure, NBC News reported.
"I do believe suicide is preventable," Gen. Lloyd J. Austin III, Army vice chief of staff, said in the release. "To combat it effectively will require sophisticated solutions aimed at helping individuals to build resiliency and strengthen their life coping skills."
Bruce Shahbaz, a medical analyst on the Army's Suicide Prevention Task Force, told Time magazine experts noticed deaths of non-commissioned officers outnumbered deaths of junior enlisted members for the first time since 2001.
"Issues like minor depression, anxiety and sleep disturbances -- those things that are kind of related to post-traumatic stress -- begin to surface after a service member has been home for more than a year, and start to reintegrate with their family," Shahbaz said in the Time interview.
So far in 2012, the Army confirmed 66 active-duty suicides and is investigating 50 more. The military branch said there were 165 confirmed active-duty suicides in 2011.
