Military Deaths: U.S. Army Enlisted Soldiers' Suicide Attempts Change Over Time, Study Says

A shocking new study has revealed that most soldiers who attempt to take their own lives haven't even been deployed yet. The study also said that risk of attempted suicide peaks at several points within the soldiers' time in the U.S. Army.

Soldiers who were never deployed were to be at the highest risk for suicide attempts during their second month of service. Risk among soldiers on their first deployment was highest during the sixth month of being deployed.

The study consisted of more than 163,000 men and women on active duty in the Army between 2004 and 2009. It showed that during that time, 9,650 soldiers attempted to take their own lives. About 86 percent were male, about 68 percent were younger than 30, and most were white, high school graduates and married. It was also revealed that most of them who attempted suicide had not experienced deployment yet. The results suggest that it may be times of transition, rather than the ongoing strain of combat and long deployments, that stress veteran soldiers the most.

Two months into first joining the service, soldiers are usually just finishing basic training. "They are transitioning out of training and into regular service," Dr. Robert Ursano of the Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences in Bethesda, Maryland, who helped lead the study, told NBC News.

Among soldiers with just one previous deployment, chances of suicide attempt were higher for those with depression or post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). The new study still can't determine why risk of suicide attempt peaks at different times during different phases. However, according to Fox News, Ursano pointed out that the fluctuations were noticed in people of different levels in different environments.

"It's important to remember both the people and stressors are changing," he said.

The new research is a part of the Army Study to Assess Risk and Resilience in Servicemembers (Army STARRS). According to Ursano, Army STARRS is modeled after the famed Framingham Heart Study, which started tracking participants in 1948 and formed the basis for recommendations to maintain a healthy heart.

"Suicide attempts are very important to think about," Ursano told Reuters Health. "In the U.S. there are more suicide attempts each year than there are first heart attacks. That is why suicide and suicide attempts are important to target with interventions."