Alarming Soldier Suicide

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

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.

Since 2009, suicide rates among those on active-duty status have stabilized at approximately 18 per 100 000. It is important to know the factors driving this increase for many reasons. The most important thing we can get from this is a better to way to both prevent and treat victims faced with thoughts of suicide.

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”.

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.

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

(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).

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.

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

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

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.

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 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,

While the total numbers of soldiers deployed to OEF/OIF/OND continues to mount, an estimated 2.5 million have served as of May 2014. Coined the “Invisible Wounds of War,” 300,000 troops suffers from Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI), Depression, and Suicide.2 These are only documented cases, of the recorded injuries, 50% do not seek treatment and consequently lead to criminal acts and prison.

Studies show that military members are nearly twice as likely to attempt or commit suicide (Childress, S. 2015). The reasons for suicide among soldiers may surprise you, since many soldiers with mental illness have not seen combat situations (Childress, S. 2015). Studies have given few answers, as to why there are such high suicide and mental illness rates among soldiers. Soldiers are encouraged to depend on their fellow warriors and build strong bonds with them. The military family is a close knit community, however when a soldier is unable to maintain close relationships they tend to struggle. Soldiers may suffer disconnection because of retirement, injury, deployment, relocation or loss of loved ones. These situations lead a soldier to often feel alone in an unfamiliar environment.