Alarming Soldier Suicide

There are an alarming number of veterans who suffer from Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) and depression. The suicide rate on returning veterans is on the rise. In California, service members were killing themselves and family members at an alarming rate. After an investigation, it was apparent that they do not have enough properly trained individuals to over see

Veteran suicide among our soldiers is a distressing and tragic reality. Per the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) http://www.va.gov/opa/docs/Suicide-Data-Report-2012-final.pdf a staggering 22 veterans take their own lives each day. That's a suicide every 65 minutes. This is a heartbreaking truth that has not adequately received the attention it deserves from the civilian world. To add insult to injury http://www.latimes.com/nation/la-na-0202-veteran-suicide-20150402-story.html tells us that there are two key high-risk groups of soldiers who typically are ineligible for psychiatric care: those forced out of the military for misconduct and those who enlisted but were quickly discharged for other problems. In each of those groups, an average of 46 of every 100,000 former service members committed suicide each

According to estimates from 2010, approximately 22 veterans died as a result of suicide each day in that calendar year.

(Zilvin 2007). A study was conducted to identified higher risks of suicidal in veterans, and the conclusion stated that veterans that are depressed have higher risk for suicide. This results can assist to focus on a certain group continuously and monitor closely to detect suicidal behavior and prevent it. Another cause of suicide is PTSD leads to depression and if not treated could lead to suicide but more study is to be done. ?For example, use and frequency of psychotherapy visits and adherence to psychiatric medications could influence the relationship between depression, PTSD, and completed suicide? (Zilvin 2007).

The Army suicide rate exceeded the civilian rate in 2008 with 20.2 army service men and women versus 19.2 civilians per 100,000 per year is the amount. More active duty personnel die by their own hand than in any combat in 2012(Veterans Statistics 2). Many veterans have been known to have aggressive outbursts, because this is a natural way to release stress. This is just a glimpse of how a PTSD patient's life is greatly impacted.PTSD can change anyone’s life very easily. PTSD (like all other mental disorders)affect many areas of a person's life; this negative change has shown that people are likely to develop other mental disorders. Common problems that people with PTSD experience are; feelings of hopelessness, shame or despair, depression/anxiety,

Suicide rates in the military are at twenty-two a day and that was in two thousand one (Dao and Lehren). In two thousand two suicides were at the rate of ten point three per one hundred thousand people (Dao and Lehren). Suicide rates in two thousand twelve were at three hundred and fifty (Dao and Lehren). In two thousand one there were two thousand seven hundred and maybe even more because this statistic did not include National Guard and reserve troops who were not on active duty (Dao and Lehren). However, studies are finding that eighty percent of soldier suicides were non-combat related (Dao and Lehren). This study is causing a concern to the military for the aspects of the background checks that the soldiers have to go through to get into the military. This is causing concern in the metal health part of the multiple series of test that these soldiers have to go through. Questions are arising like “Are the test becoming to easy and are we letting to many people in for not the right reasons?” This leads to looking farther into the causes of suicide in the military.

As a consequence of the stresses of war and inadequate job training, when they get out of the service many have fallen behind their contemporaries. If they are fortunate enough to become employed, many of them are unable to hold a job due to untreated PTSD and acquired addictions without services and counseling designed for them. These factors may place our returning veterans at a higher risk of suicide. In 2007, the US Army reported that there were 115 suicides among OIF/OEF veterans. This was the highest number of suicides reported since the Army started keeping track about 30 years ago. In general, the risk for suicide among these veterans was not higher than that found in the U.S. population (Tull). However, there are several programs and 24 hour suicide hotlines available for those that may contemplate committing suicide as an option.

The amount of suicide in active duty soldiers rose from sixty-seven in 2004, to one hundred twenty-eight in 2008 (Kuehn 2009). Many mental health centers have tried to help, but when they do, it does not meet the criteria for the help the veterans need (Kuehn

Stressed by war and long overseas tours, U.S. soldiers killed themselves last year at the highest rate on record, the toll rising for a fourth straight year and even surpassing the suicide rate among comparable civilians. Army leaders said they were doing everything they could think of to curb the deaths and appealed for more mental health professionals to join and help out. Clearly, the military is going above and beyond to try and prevent further lives from being taken.

Now we have a new era of proud fighting men and women who are serving our country and waiting for months and years to get their benefits it is time to take action now. Many of us experience what is called (PTSD) Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, from some of things we saw or experienced during our time in service. And there again you tell us there is nothing wrong and it is all in our heads, or it is not as bad as you think it is. If that is the case then why are so many of our soldiers committing suicide, because they cannot deal with the things that are going on in their head, the nightmares, the reliving of a traumatic situation that plays out in our head over and over until something snaps.

On the night of March 20th, 2012, a twenty-three year old veteran named William Busbee, locked himself in his car and shot himself in the head. His mother and two little sisters were standing just a few feet away (Multiple Deployments). A veteran commits suicide every eighty minutes. If that number is not shocking to hear then I don’t know what is. Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, or PTSD, is a major factor in this mass suicide of veterans. Suicide among veterans is turning into an epidemic. An epidemic that can be stopped with the help of experienced and educated psychologists. Those psychologists are working hard everyday with veterans who are suffering from PTSD in an attempt to cure and potentially rid the patient of this disorder. Maybe

However, war does seem to be the major problem with veteran suicide, which is where PTSD comes from. To elaborate, men and woman go to war zones, such as Afghanistan, Iraq, or Pakistan, and fight with the Middle Eastern cultures. While doing so, these men and woman tend to fight for, not only Americas freedom, but also their lives and the lives around them. Therefore, on many occasions, these men and woman are forced to kill anyone that shows threat to America’s military members. Also, when in a firefight, those men and woman have to attempt to save the lives of the people around them from gunshot wounds, IED wounds, and many other attack defenses from the enemy of war. Therefore, war is the cause of PTSD, which seems to be the number one cause of veteran suicide.

The untreated depression, frequent deployments, financial stress, substance abuse, borderline personality disorder, often brutal choices and the family separation have been linked to suicide rate among soldiers.

PTSD and suicide are two things that are very common among veterans in the U.S.. A recent study has shown that there are a much as 8,000 veteran suicides a

War, a slaughter of mankind that has gone on for hundreds and thousands of years. One of the most gruesome wars was WW1 which lasted for 4 years from 28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918. In this devastating war, the total number of casualties includes about 11 million military personnel and about 7 million civilians. Many of those soldiers were young men. The poem “Suicide in the trenches” written by Siegfried Sassoon describes the harsh experiences in the trenches and how many soldiers became depressed. Sassoon was an officer who earned a military cross after carrying a wounded soldier through enemy’s crossfire. He fought in many battles until 1917 when he was hospitalised due to Shellshock. Sassoon criticized the political leaders who sent young men off to die in huge battles that seemed pointless, and while Sassoon was in Hospital he opposed the war by writing many poems, including “Does it Matter”, “The Hero’ and arguably the most tragic poem, “Suicide in the Trenches”.