Nearly 30,000 Americans Commit Suicide Every Year And It'S

"More people in the general population die from suicide than homicide in North America. There are almost 11 suicide deaths each year for every 100,000 people living in the United States, and for every suicide, there are between 8 and 25 attempts" (Brent 4203). Based on this research, the great effect of suicide is displayed. According to dictionary.com, suicide can be defined as "the intentional taking of one's own life." Suicide is a major issue for all people, but it most obviously affects those ranging from ten to twenty-four. People need to understand the tremendous ramifications caused from suicide everyday; when people take their lives, others lose their loved ones. Suicide, one of the leading causes of death of numerous people each day, has reached a crisis point for adolescents and young adults, and it needs to be prevented.

O’brien mentions one character even losing his life to PTSD and the thoughts that he had missed life, and he could never return to the way he was. “In August of 1978 his mother sent me a brief note explaining what had happened. He’d been playing pickup basketball at the Y; after two hours he went off for a drink of water; he used a jump rope; his friends found him hanging from a water pipe” (O’brien 154). This isn’t the only example of suicides that are sourced from PTSD, as around 22 veterans a day commit suicide (Bare). Lately, the amount of people have dropped, however there still was 226 suicides from all branches of the military. Based off a a study, suicides spiked in 2015, but like mentioned previously, the amount of suicides currently is dropping. O’brien however does not call it by PTSD nor does he refer to it being a mental illness. This truly shows the accuracy of his writing, since the Vietnam War went on from 1955-1975 , by the time it was over PTSD still would not have been seen as such a problem, or even a medical anxiety disorder, and it would take 5 more years for psychologists to finally recognize as a true problem, rather than a short term adjustment (BBC News). No matter what it is referred to as, it is still recognize, and overall that’s the important part, as maybe it can open up the eyes of the many that are blind to its strength and

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.

These statistics for PTSD are appalling according to Health Researching funding “ In 2012 over 5000 suicides in the united states alone occurred as a result combat based PTSD”, and “ PTSD related suicide is the 10th leading cause of death in the United

Studies have shown that 8,000 soldiers are thought to die by suicide every year, thats Twenty-two per day(Military Bonds)! A study has also shown that fourteen percent of men have contemplated suicide, while a little over five percent had planned it out and two and a half percent had actually attempted it one or more times. The rate of major depression is five times higher than that of an average American(Military Bonds). Post Traumatic Stress disorder is a mental health condition triggered by the result of seeing something terrifying, it makes the person experience emotional distress, loss of interest, guilt, the inability to feel pleasure they may become irritable, aggressive and may not be able to sleep at night(Veterans Statistics). PTSD can also make the person have thoughts of suicide or unwanted thoughts. PTSD can occur over time after being home from a deployment and a study shows that nine percent of military personnel have PTSD shortly after returning home from a deployment, but looking at the same troops a year later thirty-one percent had claimed to suffer from PTSD(Veterans Statistics). A study shows that between five and twenty percent have had PTSD prevalence without help, but fifty percent of people who seek help prevailing over the mental illness(Veterans Statistics) PTSD is the third most prevalent psychiatric

Being a soldier requires a lot of physical and mental prowess that not everybody possesses. Even the most skilled soldiers can have psychological problems when returning from deployment. They go through extremely stressful situations that affect their mental health in many ways. This causes many of them to have post traumatic stress disorder which can lead to things like suicide. Experiences they encountered while being deployed determines the severity of the disorder. These experiences can range from getting shot at to not having trust in the system.

As of 2014, 294,172 military personnel have suffered from a TBI since 2000. Russell also stated that there had been 338,294 cases of PTSD since the war on terror. After adding all of these equations together, there were between 1,600-1,800 suicides per year from Veterans that are receiving health care at the Veterans Administration and as many as 6,400 a year Veterans total. (Daigh, 2009) That would break down to 17.5 Veterans killing themselves a day. The most recent estimates believe there could be as many as 22 Veterans taking their lives a day. Pairing this information with the previously discussed work of Rozanov & Carli, one could use inferential statistics and see that combat Veterans are the majority of those Veterans committing suicide.

Suicide has historically been and continues to be a significant issue in the United States, for civilians as well as active duty military service members and veterans. While statistics surrounding suicide appear to be just numbers on a page, I personally implore the reader of the following paper to never lose sight of the fact that those numbers represent real people. Each one of those people, be they civilian or military, represent a loss of a father or a mother, a brother or a sister, a son or a daughter, a best friend, a comrade, …a person whose life, and that life’s potential, is now forever lost. The following statistics on suicide rates in the United States do not differentiate if the individual was a civilian, an active duty

18 veterans diagnosed with Post Traumatic Stress disorder commit suicide each day. 126 each week. 6,552 each year. Post Traumatic Stress Disorder goes by many names, the most common one being PTSD. PTSD has been around since human emotion, fear is simply a part of what we are, and PTSD is a product of fear; a negative adaptation of how humans react to our worst nightmares. It is believed to have been first documented in 490 B.C. by a greek historian named Herodotus,in the manuscript of the battle of Marathon. He provides the account of

Every suicide effects more than the individual’s life, in truth it impacts families, communities and economic well-being of our nation. According, Piscopo, Lipari, Cooney, and Glasheen, (2016) “Suicide is an important public health problem in the United States and a tragedy for all involved—families, friends, neighbors, colleagues, and communities. In 2014, suicide was the 10th leading cause of death in the United States overall.1 Among people aged 10 to 34, suicide was the second highest cause of death, and for those aged 35 to 54, it was the fourth highest cause of death” (p. 2).

The stress of combat can precipitate a debilitating and sometimes lethal mental condition called post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), while a common co-occurring condition, major depression, can lead to suicide ideation (Hoge and Castro, 2012, p. 671). The increase in the prevalence of traumatic brain injury is also contributing to the increase in suicide rates, as these veterans try to cope with their war injuries while returning to their civilian lives.

Imagine someone’s best friend dies. Later this person discovers that their friend commit suicide. Envision this person’s feelings and all of the painful thoughts and memories going through their mind. This person probably feels intense sadness and maybe even betrayal. Do not forget the suicide victim’s parents. Their own child felt worthless enough to kill themselves. The students at the victim’s school have confusion, start rumors, and gossip. All of the victim’s friends feel as if the suicide happened because of them. Everyone feels as if they could have done something to prevent this tragic event. Suicide is a social issue rising in severity. Each year, over a million people commit suicide throughout the world. Suicide has the name of a

Alarming soldier suicide rates (20 soldiers a day commit suicide due to PTSD), warrants a check on what are the causes, effects, and treatments provided to soldiers, especially if they have any mental health issues such as Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). In addition, personnel in other domains such as law enforcement, medical, and firefighter who experience traumatic situations, may be susceptible to PTSD and if it is not treated on time may result in suicide.

42,773 people commit suicide every year in the United States. “Suicide is...the sincerest form of criticism life gets” Wilfrid Sheed. Suicide is the 10th leading cause of death in the United States. For every successful suicide, there are ten men and women who attempt suicide. And for every one of those, there are ten who think of killing themselves, but do not.(Some Reasons). People commit suicide for multiple reasons.

According to Harned, Jackson, Comtois, and Linehan (2010), individuals that have been diagnosed with Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) are at an increased risk for suicidal thoughts and behavior and non-suicidal self-inflicted injury. The U.S. National Comorbidity Survey found that individuals with PTSD were six times more likely to attempt suicide and five times more likely to report thoughts of suicide than those without PTSD (Kessler, 2000).