How can the US military combat high mental illness rates?

The largest study of mental health ever conducted on U.S. military personnel revealed a startling fact: Nearly half of soldiers who reported a suicide attempt said their first attempt happened prior to enlistment.

It was believed that long, repeated deployments in the recent wars in Afghanistan and Iraq were a cause of suicide among military personnel. Now a huge mental health study upends that idea and points to a need to better understand the young people who sign up to fight in their nation’s wars.

The news comes from the Army Study to Assess Risk and Resilience in Servicemembers, or Army STARRS, funded by the Army and National Institutes of Mental Health.

Three new STARRS studies were released this week in a Journal of the American Medical Association Psychiatry article. One report said almost a quarter of U.S. active duty troops suffered from some form of mental illness before they enlisted in the military.

One in five soldiers had a common illness like depression, panic disorder or attention deficit hyperactivity disorder. Roughly 1 in 10 soldiers had a diagnosis for intermittent explosive disorder, a tendency to have sudden bouts of rage. That is six times the rate among the civilian population. Intermittent explosive disorder is seen in the study as the most common risk factor for suicidal behavior.

From 2004 to 2009 — the height of the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq —  the military suicide rate more than doubled since the Pentagon started keeping track in 2001.

In that time, 569 service members' deaths were ruled suicides.

Then 2012 saw a peak in military suicides: 349 service members took their own lives.

In an address to the Disabled American Veterans national convention in August, President Barack Obama spoke about the need to improve mental health services in the military.

"I issued an executive order to step up our game (in mental health resources), and we have — hiring more counselors, hiring more mental health providers, new awareness campaigns so that those who are hurting know that asking for help is not a sign of weakness. It’s a part of staying strong," Obama said.

The effort appears to have paid off. In 2013 soldiers' suicide rate fell 19 percent, according to the Army.

The National Institutes of Mental Health says the causes of military suicides remain unknown, but the new STARRS studies point to risk factors that may help identify protective factors and focus existing programs to help service members at higher risk. 

Is there something different about today's soldiers that is driving up mental illness statistics in the military?

Are recruitment mental health screenings too lax? 

Will this high mental illness rate continue after America's wars are over?

We consulted a panel of experts for the Inside Story.

This panel was assembled for the broadcast of Inside Story.

For future hard-hitting conversations, find Al Jazeera America on your TV.