Suicide Rate of Female Soldiers Triples in War Zones

Female soldiers are three times more likely to commit suicide once they are deployed to a war zone, according to a major Army study. The 5-year study, conducted by the National Institute of Mental Health, found that suicide rates rose from 5 to 15 out of 100,000 among female personnel deployed to Iraq or Afghanistan, USA Today reports.

Yet women remain less likely to kill themselves than men while fighting in those wars, the research found. (For men, suicide rates go from 15 to 21 per 100,000 when they ship out.) Married soldiers of either gender are not more likely to kill themselves once deployed, an area researchers plan to explore to see if lessons can be applied to single soldiers. (More suicide stories.)