WASHINGTON — Morale has fallen among soldiers in Afghanistan, where troops are seeing record violence in the 8-year-old war, while those in Iraq show much improved mental health amid much lower violence, the Army said Friday.
It was the first time since 2004 that soldier suicides in Iraq did not increase. Self- inflicted deaths in Afghanistan were on track to go up this year.
Both battlefield surveys showed that soldiers on their third or fourth tours of duty had lower morale and more mental health problems than those with fewer deployments. And an increasing number of troops are having problems with their marriages.
The new survey on Afghanistan found instances of depression, anxiety and post-traumatic stress at about the same as they were in 2007 but double 2005’s cases. That was 21.4 percent in 2009, 23.4 percent in 2007 and 10.4 percent in 2005.
That compares with a lower 13.3 percent in Iraq, down from 18.8 percent in 2007 and 22 percent in 2006.
The findings come from surveys and interviews with troops and mental health workers at the wars. The Associated Press
