According to recent data, suicide is in on the top ten causes of death in the United States. As the staggering number of suicides increases to over 36,000 a year, and more than a 100 each day. (O’Neil 1) When looking at the data for military veterans, the numbers are even more alarming, as the increasing number, is caused for a national concern. In the past decade the demographics for veterans that committed suicide was predominantly was white male and in the age range of 18 years to 25 years old. Many of the reasons found for their suicide was mostly related to job satisfaction, money problems, or relationship issues. However, since the military has been engaged in war after September 11th, the demographics have changed. No longer is the demographic profile predominantly white, but now it involves several races, as well as age ranges that extend up to 44 years of age. The issues that have been found includes the stress of deployment, knowing when the time is up, the stress of leaving their families, the stress of possible dying, and other added stressors. As McCarl (2012) points out, “For these service members to survive the battlefield only to return home and commit suicide is a notion that reeks of depressing irony.” (McCarl 398) Suicides by Veterans have become a growing health concern, as many have come back from war, trying to adjust to civilian life. The purpose of this research paper is to analyze the growing rates of suicide by war veterans. Examining the causes,
This paper explores post-traumatic stress and how it is seen as a disorder. Post-traumatic stress can manifest into post-traumatic stress disorder. The evaluation and review books and articles seem to reveal a relation to these symptoms and military member, either active or non-active veterans. These symptoms do not manifest strictly into the full-extent of the disorder in all cases of military, however, things such as depression and other physical symptoms are discussed through the readings. The end result is that we discovered that through the readings PTSD will in fact lead to suicide if left untreated.
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.
The Air Force lost 38 airmen to suicide in 2008, a rate of 11.5 suicides per 100,000 airmen. The average over the past five years — since the start of Operation Iraqi Freedom — was 11 deaths per 100,000 annually. Of the airmen lost in 2008, 95 percent were men and 89 percent were enlisted. Young enlisted men with a rank of E1 to E4 and between the ages of 21 and 25 have the highest risk of suicide. Recently released data indicates that active duty males carry, for the first time in known history, a suicide risk greater than that of comparable males in the general population (Psychotherapy Brown Bag, 2009). This is particularly noteworthy considering that the military entrance process screens out serious mental illness prior to entry onto active duty, and that the rate of suicide in military males has historically been significantly lower than comparable civilian populations. To help
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
Since 2001, the Unites States Military has been engaged in steady armed conflict all around the world and soldiers are taking their own lives due to the stresses of combat. (Ramchand, Acosta, Burns, Jaycox, & Pernin, 2011). The mission of the Military’s Suicide Prevention Program is to provide an endless supply of family support, information, medical assistance, and training to soldiers and their families with the goal of preventing and/or reducing the number of suicides. Leaders at the state and national level put forth great effort to reduce suicides in the military which is a great concern. Policy makers and legislators are continuously updating regulations to provide service members and their families with the best resources to help with all forms of PTSD and suicidal tendencies. A major goal is to get help to the service member before the thoughts of suicide are
The answers to this question amazed me. I have found out that close to 17 veterans commit suicide daily and, over a year, that number adds up to over 6,000 suicides. I have also discovered that half of veterans with suicidal thoughts and tendencies do not seek help for their problems out of fear of being judged. Perhaps the most shocking statistic I found was that during the Vietnam War, the number of veterans' suicide greatly exceeded the number of deaths caused during combat. The two main information sources I used to answer this question are my expert interview and a GALE article titled Growing Public Health Crisis of Domestic Violence and Suicides by Returning Veterans. I asked my expert specifically about the statistics of veterans' suicide and she gave me a lot of insight on the issue. The GALE article contains a lot of statistics such as the daily number of veterans' suicide. My thoughts about the statistics of veterans' suicide are mainly about how shockingly high they are. I was surprised when I found out that 17 service men and women commit suicide every day. I was even more surprised when the article said that over 6,000 suicides occur every year and I calculated that number myself just to make sure. My findings on the statistics of veterans' suicide are both shocking and twistedly
Since this Friday is Remembrance Day, I decided to read an article about the veterans of Canada. This article was about the mental health of veterans when they return home from war, and how they need support. This article revealed that at least 70 veterans that went to war in Afghanistan, have died from suicide after their return home. In several cases, family members told the stories of their loved ones and gave information about their treatment and how they died.
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.
Veterans make up seven percent of the American population, but they account for twenty percent of its suicides. Yes, that is indeed a real statistic, more importantly, what is the government, the people that ordered those men and women deliberately into harm’s way, doing about this tragedy. In light of recent conflicts the United States has been engaging in, such as the conflicts in the Middle East, a new silent killer of returning veterans, has become more visible to the public. Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder. Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, also known as PTSD, has taken its toll recently on Veterans returning from the harsh
(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.
There is a common belief that many combat veterans are suffering; many from invisible wounds that affect them in many ways. The challenge that the VA and other government agencies face is determining which veterans need help, there are several factors that affect this, from the individual’s desire to accept help, to the stigma that most veterans have accepted, which is “if they ask for help, they are weak.” During separation from the military it is a critical time for all soldiers, this time provides an opportunity for the military, the VA and our government to intercede and work with men and women while they are still soldiers. Veteran suicide is an epidemic, the number of veterans taking their life daily has been steadily growing, the statistic published by the VA is that twenty-two veterans end their lives every day (Suicide Data Report, 2012); steps have been taken to curb this number but the efforts have been woefully inadequate.
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
(2012) suggest that suicide prevention strategies must be implemented by professionals who understand military culture and the unique pressures of social cohesion and mental health stigma. Braswell and Kushner (2012, p. 535) agree that efforts must be implemented in a way that “account for the lived experience of soldiers.” Although these recommendations are in line with a growing body of academic scholarship on the topic of military suicide, it will be difficult to implement successful policy without a better understanding of what is behind the difference and change in suicide rate. With incomplete information or a lack of causality, policymakers will be unprepared to determine if the outcomes of their actions are an improvement compared to maintenance of current
Although previous studies have found that PTSD, insomnia, depression, and alcohol abuse, each of which as an independent factor, are all related to the increase in suicide risk for military veterans (Allan et al., 2017, p. 301; McKinney, Hirsch, & Britton, 2017, p. 100; Rojas, Bujarski, Babson, Dutton, & Feldner, 2014, p. 322), an integrated approach to interweave all those factors together has yet been made. In sum, Military veteran PTSD-related suicide is associated with insomnia, depression, and alcohol