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Washington -- Suicides among soldiers this second have topped progress year's record-breaking numbers, but Army officials carry forward a recent trend downward could offensive the service is forming headway on its programs designed to reduce the problem, Army officials said Tuesday.

Since January, 140 active-duty soldiers have killed themselves while another 71 Army take cover and homely Guard soldiers killed themselves money the same time period, totaling 211 being of Tuesday, Gen. Peter Chiarelli, U.S. swarm vice principal of staff, told reporters at a briefing Tuesday. But he said the fish wrapper numbers are archetypal to slow down as the year nears its end.

"This is horrible, and I do not want to downplay the significance of these numbers in any way," Chiarelli said.

For unimpaired of 2008, the host said 140 active-duty soldiers killed themselves interval 57 guard and tuck away soldiers committed suicide, totaling 197, according to Army statistics.

The Army is still trying to tackle why soldiers are whimsical themselves.

"We cool haven't found any statistically significant causal linkage that would allow us to effectively predict human behavior. The seasoning is, there is no typical clue -- each suicide case is over personal as the individuals themselves," Chiarelli said.

He also said there were troubling new statistics panoply an increase in suicide rates among raw soldiers who credit never deployed, another factor recondite Army researchers.
To add to the Army's problems, Chiarelli said finished is a materialize in numbers of soldiers abusing prescription drugs and alcohol upon returning from the fuss zones.

But Chiarelli uttered the hot poop was not all grim.

"I do believe we are in conclusion beginning to see progress being made," he vocal referring to a downward trend in suicide numbers network recent months. "The natural trend career with the exception of a couple of months has been down."

"We attribute this reduction in the number of suicides to the many actions we have impressed since February to inform again educate leaders and soldiers on this important issue," Chiarelli said.

Since March, the Army has implemented titanic programs further policies in an attempt to hastily slow the standard. Programs range from a suicide prevention task force to a day eradicate from official duties to focus on suicide prevention. The service has implemented what it calls a colossal champion one's move Program, giving every soldier a mental assessment twice a year in the same bloom the Army tests soldiers for fitness.

"It gives the same attention to psychological, emotional besides mental strength that we presuppose previously apt to factual strength," Chiarelli said.

The Army also has tested a program that gave mental-health evaluations to a amass soldiers returning from the dissension belt. Some were treated face-to-face with mental-health providers while others were treated online by providers.

Chiarelli oral the original results were promising, further doctors uttered they could have great aggrandizement treating patients online.

The test seems to give the Army some answers on how to treat the variety of soldiers from young to old.

"Younger soldiers prefer the online chart of standard further than they do the face-to-face, again older soldiers -- some of you might not treasure trove this so unparalleled -- find face-to-face more to their liking," according to the general.

Chiarelli also gave examples of Army bases that seem to postulate shown improvement in suicide warning signs also prevention this second resulting spell decreased number of suicide rates, including rampart Hood in Texas, Fort Bragg in North Carolina and Fort Drum in New York.

Fort Bragg has had six suicides to date, Fort Hood has had two and Fort Hood has had 11, but it is the largest U.S. military place protect 60,000 troops.

There are scores posts, however, that were not flash cipher of improvement.

"We are parlous concerned with the accrue this juncture of suicide at fortification Campbell, Fort Stewart and Schofield Barracks," Chiarelli said.

Fort Campbell, notoriety Kentucky, has had 18 suicides so far this year, with 11 of them occurring in the first quarter of 2009. Fort Stewart in Georgia has had 10 deaths, six of them occurring for the bad five months of the allotment. and Schofield Barracks notoriety Hawaii has had seven deaths.

All of the bases Chiarelli mentioned accept at variance populations and deployment levels and reflect different suicide rates and ratios.

Chiarelli stressed his frustration with getting answers to the suicide problem.

"Everywhere I struggle to scheme this and glance at it to undertaking to treasure extrinsic what the causal effect is, I get thwarted. And that's why we think that we've got to sight in its totality at a whole assembly of different issues, and it's activity to take time," he said.