What do you think the reasoning is behind such a high suicide rate in Iraq War Veterans?

Question

I was surprised to learn that it had far surpassed suicides amongst Vietnam Veterans.

tx_trott-I based the question on NBC Evening New with Brian Williams. I thought that was a credible source.

Samsat-I know that 20,000 that have brain injuries are not in the count of brain injuries because they weren't discovered until the soldiers returned from Iraq to a stateside VA Hospital. And I know this for a fact: My son came back with a brain injury & paralyzed. Therefore I have spent a lot of time in VA Spinal Cord Injury Units. I have seen a lot.

ARMY STRONG-That's a feasible answer & something to think about. I like hearing from those who have experienced it.

Brad V-I agree!

conrange-NBC news said "Veterans returning from the Middle East". I can't know what they meant; I only know what they reported.

William B-Informative. And I'm sorry for what you have endured. I have seen more of that than I care to see.

Answer 1

Posted this before:

1. Immediate access to firearms/bullets.(this is also cited as one of the reason for cops having higher suicide rates than general pop).
2. Multiple deployments.
3. Mlitary is communal. Some don't fit in. Others become ostracized and alienated for various reasons.
4. Military-wide shortage of good mental health professionals. Limited access for many soldiers to them.
5. Deployment magnifies the normal problems associated with being young/being military (i.e., Dear John letters, discovering infidelity, fearing infidelity).
6. PTSD/Traumatic brain injury.
7. Lack of quality resources to relieve stress/anxiety associated with combat or lack of access to them.
8. Failure of command to track/monitor soldier's mental health assessment.
9. Machismo of the military makes it difficult for a mentally/emotionally injured soldier to report such problems for fear of reprisal/ridicule.
10. Homesick.
11. Youth/immaturity of our fighting force - thus unable to cope with the above.

Yes, suicides have increased for a myriad of reasons. The military has tried to minimized the coverage of this issue.

For example, five soldiers killed themselves in one brigade in 2006 that I served with, but they were all reported as "non-combat related deaths" only. That's how they appear in all the roll-call for deaths in Iraq. They won't say suicide. This doesn't even count all the "suicide by accident" deaths that are likely occurring.

I had some involvement after all these suicides and numerous suicide attempts/ideations from a military attorney perspective. I used to be a psych tech with the military and served in Iraq with two friends who were Army psychologists. We compared notes often.

The reality of war is that it produces these very real consequences.

Answer 2

The answer could be Post Traumatic Stress Disorder or PTSD. The Veteran's Administration is totally underfunded. In fact if you are under 50% disabled you are put on a waiting list for help. They will get around to helping you the problem is when. PTSD is so debilitating that you have nightmares day and night, you see the seen of the battle over and over again, you can smell the heat of battle, you can taste the battle and you can still be afraid of the battle that set off your PTSD. Without proper treatment, suicide is an easy option for that condition. You need therapy and medications. You need understanding from friends and familty. Mostly you get very little of that. One day you go from driving a multimillion dollar tank to asking "do you want fries with that". You get very disillusioned very fast.

I know this because it happened to me in the Air Force when a plane I was scheduled to pilot crashed without me one board. If I had been on board who knows if I could have saved the day? But I know I could have. Luckily I had the support of my wife. Not my father though who served in World War 2. He emailed my wife saying there was nothing wrong with me a good swift kick in the pants wouldn't help. This was last December, he is 83 years old and I haven't talked to him since, except for the one phone call I made to curse him out. I love my dad and miss him every day. Will we ever talk again it is up to him.

All wars cause suicide. It is a fact of life. Some kill them selves and others do suicide by enemy action. I feel for them and their pain. They are my brothers and sisters in arms. I hope that their pain can be gone and that normalcy gain control in their lives.

Answer 3

Lack of reasoning is probably the reason for people committing suicide.

What do you base your assumptions on?, in relation to an annual return on Vietnam vets who committed suicide from 1965 to the present day??

Or based on the number of military personnel that served and length of the war?

Does the calculation differentiate between suicides amongst former military personnel, and or including returned Iraq veterans?

And do you include numbers for U.S. personnel who served in Afghanistan as well in your totals??

Answer 4

I also think that besides all that has been said here, a lot of these kids don't expect to see & be right in the middle of the real hell that war is. No one really knows and most especially young people, what to expect until they've experienced it. Our president & our administration who should know better, should be feeling real guilty & ashamed of themselves for not trying to resolve this conflict by other means, but unfortunately, they don't. It doesn't affect them, their families or their loved ones, so why should they care? They mouth the words but they don't really feel their pain. All that matters to them is money & power.

Answer 5

Prolonged deployment is as demoralizing as I can imagine. Having your tour extended is a death sentence to many of these young people.

You start counting the days before rotation back to civilization the moment you are deployed. To run up to that date and then, have your tour extended is the worst nightmare imaginable, for many.

This is why politicians should bow out of making decisions during wartime, no good ever comes of it. The Pentagon should be the one deciding if a draft is necessary. If the losers and deadheads are required to do their part, there would be enough troops to go around, and there would be no re-deployment unless it is on a volunteer basis.

Answer 6

Multiple deployments....like 3-4 already probably will be a safe bet.

US Army 15 years
OIF 2003

Answer 7

Here is some information on one study very interesting. Hope this helps.

Answer 8

Becuz all those young men & women know that their friends have died for nothing & that Bush and his "liars" have made millions from the Saudi's

Answer 9

iMany of them have been seriously injured - lost their arms, legs etc. or have very serious health problems due to the injures.
You know how many soldiers have died in Iraq.

Do you know how many of the Iraq soldiers come back invalid?

Answer 10

There has been one bogus report about suicides in 2005 that included non-combatants and reservists on the inactive list. If that is what you are basing your judgment on, you might want to get better data.