What’s behind the spate of suicides in Canada’s military?

To call the apparent suicides of three soldiers this week "very troubling," as Defence Minister Rob Nicholson did, is an understatement.

Nicholson offered his condolences on behalf of the government in the Commons on Thursday.

“Our thoughts and prayers are with the families, friends and colleagues of these departed individuals, and I wish all those associated with those individuals peace during this difficult time,” Nicholson said, according to The Canadian Press.

Although the suicide rate among Canadian military personnel isn't a lot different than for the wider male population, the deaths have renewed calls for ways to support troubled soldiers. And a 2011 study found that discharged soldiers, who aren't included in Defence Department stats, have a suicide risk of one and a half times the general population.

The deaths of Warrant Officer Michael McNeil at CFB Petawawa, Ont., Master Cpl. William Elliott of CFB Shilo, Man., and Master bombardier Travis Halmrast of Lethbridge, Alta., are under investigation by the military.

All three were veterans of Canada's combat mission in Afghanistan, with Elliott serving two tours. It instantly raised the question of whether Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) played a part in their deaths and whether the Canadian Armed Forces was providing enough help for struggling veterans.

[ Related: PTSD among soldiers expected to increase: doctor ]

“They are giving them all this stuff they need over there to fight with, tanks guns and everything, they do the job over there and do it well, but when they come home and they need the help they don't seem to have it,” McNeil’s uncle, Frank McNeil, told CTV News.

McNeil had spent almost two decades in the armed forces, serving in Bosnia and Kosovo, as well as Afghanistan, where his cousin was killed by Taliban snipers six years ago, CTV News said.

Elliott suffered back injuries while in Afghanistan and his friend, Cpl. Glen Kirkland, told CTV News he worried about being discharged without adequate financial security.

Halmrast, who died in hospital after a suicide attempt while he was incarcerated in a civilian jail, was said to be living with PTSD.

[ Related: PTSD service dogs kicked out of Dartmouth ER ]

A table on the Canadian Armed Forces web site shows anywhere from eight to a dozen regular forces members killed themselves in any given year from 1995 to 2012. The total spiked to 21 in 2011, the year Canada's combat role in Kandahar ended, before dropping to 10 last year.

The five-year suicide rate ranged from 18 to 20 per 100,000 population. The figures don't include reservists, many of whom served in Afghanistan. The overall suicide rate among the general Canadian population is 18 per 100,000, compared with 5.3 for women.

No female personnel committed suicide between 1995 and 2002, but there were eight since then, including three in 2012.

Each suicide is supposed to be investigated and a board of inquiry held. But Postmedia News reported that 70 such inquires were not concluded. Critics questioned how the Department of National Defence could really grasp the problem of suicides in the military with so many inquiries unfinished.

"If the military is not conducting a proper investigation and getting reports prepared and finished into how this happened, why this happened, I don't have confidence that we're finding out what's going on, and putting the measures in place to try to put a stop to it," NDP defence critic Jack Harris told Postmedia News.

Responding to the latest deaths, Canadian Army commander Lt.-Gen. Marquise Hainse said the military "cares deeply for each and every member."

"It goes without saying that we take every death seriously and as such we will explore all facets of these situations to try and learn from them and reduce future occurrences while also providing the best support to the Army family whenever a death does occur."

The U.S. military has also been coping with a rising number of suicides, which spiked to 349 for 2012, compared with 301 the previous year. Suicides began to rise in 2006, while the U.S. was deeply committed in Afghanistan and still involved in Iraq, according to The Associated Press.

The trend spurred officials to look more closely at the causes and launch a drive to remove the stigma from soldiers under mental strain so they would seek help. Suicides have declined by more than 22 per cent this year, AP reported.

A study funded by the U.S. Defense Department also suggested the high number of suicides might not be directly related to extended overseas deployments or facing combat, according to CNN.

[ Related: Canadian Forces still grappling with the problem of suicides ]

Instead, underlying mental health problems, from depression and manic depression to alcohol abuse, that are not being adequately treated are factors in these suicides, said the study, done by researchers at Walter Reed military hospital and the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs.

Other research also suggested seeing combat doesn't put soldiers at higher risk of suicide, with half of victims in the last decade not deployed to Iraq or Afghanistan and 80 per cent never involved in fighting.

In Canada, the federal government has promised to boost the $38.5 million a year it spends on mental health services for armed forces members by an additional $11.4 million.

The issue of psychological fitness of Canadian military personnel came up after the conviction of Col. Russell Williams, a celebrated air force pilot and base commander who led a double life as a sexual predator. He was convicted in 2010 of sexually assaulting and murdering two young women, plus 82 other charges.

According to the website Northam Psychotechnologies, military recruits are questioned about drug or alcohol abuse and previous psychiatric treatment or psychological counselling. Any disclosures are followed up.

"In most cases during recruitment and thereafter in the Canadian Forces, psychological testing is used only to help determine an individual’s aptitude for particular military occupations, not to assess psycho-social stability," said the article by Dr. Semyon Ioffe, whose company markets screening tools.

"By contrast, applicants for most civilian police forces undergo a series of psychological screening tests."