Soldier and Veteran Suicides

[blackeyeliner95]

I've just read the morning news and found this rather disturbing article.

More British soldiers and veterans took their own lives in 2012 than died fighting the Taliban in Afghanistan over the same period.

Now let's not keep this discussion about the British men and women who serve, but ask the question of all nations.

Do we prepare our military enough and do we care enough post war?

Here is the article in full.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-23259865



Number of soldiers with initial diagnosis of PTSD who served in Afghanistan
2009 - 1082010 - 1802011 - 1832012 - 231Source: Ministry of Defence

Darren's story

 

[WayneS]

PTSD does not only effect the UK soldiers but it has been diagnosed as a major cause of the US military who have been in country (OEF/IEF/IAF).. It has been finally acknowledged as a compensatory disability by the US Veterans Administration.. I can speak with experience on this subject as I work with several individuals who have served in the desert and afghanistan who also have been diagnosed with PTSD. One of my own family members has 4 tours in Iraq and 3 to Afghanistan where he served in duties dealing with convoy escort and attacks on the bases where he was at.. He and I have had several long talks about this and I have been a sounding board for him as I am a Military Veteran of the Vietnam era where I served as a military medic.

 

[AlexisInfectious®]

I'm in favor of any kind of psychological, medical, moral, financial or educational support we can provide troops. With that said, young men often commit suicide. I haven't heard of any research or statistic that compares suicide in military personnel compared to a sample of civilians controlled for age and income bracket. I'd be very interested if someone could point that out to me.

 

[sierenthead]

According to the NIMH, male veterans are 2x more likely to commit suicide than their civilian counterparts.

http://www.nimh.nih.gov/news/science-news/2007/male-veterans-have-double-the-suicide-rate-of-civilians.shtml

The US military had the same issues in 2012, with more suicides than combat deaths in our branches. It's sad to say, but returning service members get a bad deal as reintegration is sorely neglected. Add in physical injuries with mental ones, and you're now combining medications that can also be a big contributing factor.

 

[Jake1]

Like I said, the article I linked said 69% of US veteran suicides are over 50 years old. The media tends to give the impression PTSD is about young men returning from wherever we had a war last, but it is something that can haunt people for life, and these suicides will be from every war in living memory.

 

[Ducks]

It's unclear if it has anything to do with the war though. Suicide rates among ex soldiers have always been slightly higher than the general population, and there are numerous possible explanations for this related to the nature of the army and soldiers rather than PTSD. From a 2009 study

Indeed I believe there were more suicides than battle casualties in the first Gulf war as well.

 

[zerojake96]

Same goes for Vietnam and the Falklands.

 

[Lisha]

The Falklands one is supposed to be an urban myth, and anyway I mean DURING the conflict.

 

[Rachele]

An interesting article about suicide rates in elderly US WWII vets: https://www.baycitizen.org/news/veterans/suicide-rates-soar-among-wwii-vets/

Having known people with PTSD is enough to put me off ever being in the military. War is hell, and you don't get over experiencing hell. In fact, the burden would seem to become greater and more difficult to live with as time goes on, which is counter-intuitive to most people's wisdom of time being "the great healer".

 

[LBL]

I'm sorry Simon, I wrote a whole big thing because this issue is pretty close to home and I could have very nearly been one of the statistics in your article but for U.S. Troops not too long ago, but I just couldn't find it in me to finish and hit the "post" button. : /

What I will say is that stuff is being done for veterans (in the states anyways) and that's a good thing vs. when nothing was being done before. Nobody knows what needs to happen really so you can't blame people for trying and failing at this point (different from VA backlogs which involve horrible administration). A lot of veterans are setting up networks to be able to talk to each other to help each other out and honestly that's what I do to get through some of my very low points. Only thing I can say for veterans who are suffering with PTSD is that they should seek somebody out to talk to them. If you're a vet reading this and want to talk hit me up on PM because lord knows any conversation between us will most certainly be violating the crap out of ToS. I also have a few things I could share that has helped me out as well through some rough moments.

Talking helps. Funny I say that and I can't even write a revealing amount of text about myself and hit "post."

 

[angeleyezxx]

You're right, it is a myth: http://m.guardian.co.uk/uk/defence-and-security-blog/2013/may/14/falklands-veterans-suicide-army

 

[Englishtillidie]

Since I have been out of the military (retired in 92) I have seen a lot of stuff change with the way things are worked with the veterans administration.. It was as a result of the crappy way that a lot of vietnam era vets were treated by the homefront and the ridicule that we took as a response to our going to exotic places at the beckon and call of our nation.. I was one of these guys who came back from overseas and basically went into isolation mode for a couple of years.. Things were hard when we came back as we didn't get the hero's welcome as they did after ww2, but a lot of things have changed albeit about 30 plus years too late.. We finally got recognition for our service in the post korea and vietnam conflicts, but there are still a lot of vietnam and korean vets who are still suffering from their time in the conflict and having to live with the choices they did make to ensure their survival.. It took a lot of veterans who went out on their own and started support groups so those who were still living in the past and had problems coming back to the civilian world.. Vietnam was the only war where one day you were in the jungle and the next day you were sitting in the states after your discharge.. The military personnel were treated as individuals and not sent as units were in the second world war and korea.. This individualism was hard for a lot of vets to comprehend as you build a brotherhood in times of combat, you learn how to trust your hoochmate or the guy on both sides of you as your life and survival was part of their life on a daily basis..

 

[jerzo]

Remember me saying in my charity thread Combat Stress was high up there? Yeah this is why. Hopefully the headline helps get the issue some more help

 

[saraphin88]

I dont know about the states, but its pretty disgusting how ex-soliders get treated here in the UK.

The scumbags ATOS have cut off the benefits of many ex-soldiers suffering from PTSD and other disabilities:

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/benefits-crackdown-humiliates-disabled-army-war-veterans-8633610.html

I'll never vote conservative again.

 

[JozekielSteele]

You shouldn't have in the first place

 

[Mantrid]

I just heard this on the news (through BBC actually). Apparently they found the same thing with US veterans last year. Although they did say that it was the result of relatively low casualties in Afghanistan for that time period. They also said that the suicide rate for veterans was below that of the general population.