Why are suicide rates among veterans higher than in the general US population, American author David Swanson asks, posing yet another question: why does the subject of war as a suicide-related motive never arise in official studies?
"Remarkably, the subject of war, their role in war, their thoughts about the supposed justifications (or lack thereof) of a war, never come up," Swanson wrote in his article for Information Clearing House.
The psychiatric studies and mass media reports are being focused on various "factors to blame" from "prior suicidality" to "poverty." However, they tell us virtually nothing, according to Swanson.
"Perhaps their goal isn't
to tell us something factual so much as to shift the conversation away
from why war causes murder and suicide, to the question of what was
wrong with these soldiers before they enlisted," the author remarked.
Suicide rate for veterans far exceeds that of civilian population
Nearly one in five suicides nationally is a veteran, 49,000 took own lives between 2005 and 2011
By Jeff Hargarten
Forrest BurnsonBonnie CampoChase Cook
Updated:
Veterans
are killing themselves at more than double the rate of the civilian
population with about 49,000 taking their own lives between 2005 and
2011, according to data collected over eight months by News21.
Records from 48 states show the annual suicide rate among veterans is about 30 for every 100,000 of the population, compared to a civilian rate of about 14 per 100,000. The suicide rate among veterans increased an average 2.6 percent a year from 2005 to 2011, or more than double that of the 1.1 percent civilian rate, according to News21’s analysis of states’ mortality data.
Nearly one in every five suicides nationally is a veteran — 18 to 20 percent annually — compared with Census data that shows veterans make up about 10 percent of the U.S. adult population.
“Anytime a veteran who fought our enemies abroad or helped defend America from within our borders dies by their own hand, it’s completely unacceptable,” Rep. Jeff Miller, R-Fla., chairman of the House Committee on Veteran’s Affairs, told an American Legion conference in Washington earlier this year. The suicide rate has remained consistently high, he said, adding that more work was needed to address gaps in veterans’ mental health care.
“It’s not enough that the veteran suicide problem isn’t getting worse,” he said, “it isn’t getting any better.”
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Records from 48 states show the annual suicide rate among veterans is about 30 for every 100,000 of the population, compared to a civilian rate of about 14 per 100,000. The suicide rate among veterans increased an average 2.6 percent a year from 2005 to 2011, or more than double that of the 1.1 percent civilian rate, according to News21’s analysis of states’ mortality data.
Nearly one in every five suicides nationally is a veteran — 18 to 20 percent annually — compared with Census data that shows veterans make up about 10 percent of the U.S. adult population.
“Anytime a veteran who fought our enemies abroad or helped defend America from within our borders dies by their own hand, it’s completely unacceptable,” Rep. Jeff Miller, R-Fla., chairman of the House Committee on Veteran’s Affairs, told an American Legion conference in Washington earlier this year. The suicide rate has remained consistently high, he said, adding that more work was needed to address gaps in veterans’ mental health care.
“It’s not enough that the veteran suicide problem isn’t getting worse,” he said, “it isn’t getting any better.”
Read More Here
Report: Suicide rate spikes among young veterans
New
suicide data released by the department on Thursday showed that the
rate of veterans suicide remained largely unchanged over that three-year
period, the latest for which statistics are available. About 22
veterans a day take their own life, according to department estimates.
But
while older veterans saw a slight decrease in suicides, male veterans
under 30 saw a 44 percent increase in the rate of suicides. That’s
roughly two young veterans a day who take their own life, most just a
few years after leaving the service.
“Their rates
are astronomically high and climbing,” said Jan Kemp, VA’s National
Mental Health Director for Suicide Prevention. “That’s concerning to
us.”
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