Suicide rates soar for US war veterans

[Goldstein1984]

Suicide rates soar for US war veterans
Tuesday 12 January 2010

Veterans are often left emotionally damaged by war

Washington has revealed that the suicide rate for returning war veterans aged 18-29 soared by 26 per cent from 2005-7. Preliminary data from the Veterans Affairs (VA) Department indicated on Monday that about 18 veterans commit suicide every day. Most of the veterans in the 18-29 age group had served in the Iraq or Afghanistan war zones. In 2005, the rate per 100,000 veterans among men aged 18-29 was 44.99, compared with 56.77 in 2007.

More: http://www.morningstaronline.co.uk/index.php/news/content/view/full/85493

******************************

War is so clearly a cause of suicide. Yet, soldiers who commit suicide are not treated as casualties of war. Presidents, including President Obama, refuse to send the same letters of consolation to the families of these soldiers.

These meaningless wars are going to destroy a generation.

[Mari333]

1. knr for lives ruined.

[Forkboy]

2. And that's a FACT.

[Solly Mack]

3. k/r

[NYC_SKP]

4. Would you belief 18 Veteran Suicides per Day, average? 18 PER DAY.

And maybe higher, as these figures are not very recent.

My post of July, 2008: http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=132x6517737#6517744

Not attempts, there are perhaps 1000 or more per month.

Successes. 18 per day, average.

Unbelievable?

Links:

VA confirms 18 vets commit suicide every day

By Jason Leopold
Online Journal Contributing Writer


Apr 22, 2008, 00:19

In a stunning admission, top officials at the Veterans Health Administration confirmed that the agency’s own statistics show that an average of 126 veterans per week -- 6,552 veterans per year -- commit suicide, according to an internal email distributed to several VA officials.

Brig. Gen. Michael J. Kussman, the undersecretary for health at the VA, sent the email, dated Dec. 15, 2007. Kussman had inquired about the accuracy of a news report published that month claiming the suicide rate among veterans was 18 per day.

“McClatchy alleges that 18 veterans kill themselves everyday and this is confirmed by the VA’s own statistics,” Kussman wrote. “Is that true? Sounds awful but if one is considering 24 million veterans.”...

http://onlinejournal.com/artman/publish/article_3204.shtml

VA Conceals Vet Suicide Figures From CBS To Downplay ‘Epidemic In Suicide’

Yesterday marked the opening day of a class action lawsuit brought by Iraq and Afghanistan veterans against the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA), arguing “that failure to provide care is manifesting itself in an epidemic of suicides” among veterans. The VA denies the charges, pointing to increased resources devoted to mental health.

Today, CBS News reports that the VA apparently concealed veteran suicide statistics, and fed the news organization faulty data for a story on the issue. The VA told CBS that there were 790 attempted suicides in all of 2007. Yet shortly after, the VA’s head of Mental Health, Dr. Ira Katz, wrote in an e-mail to the VA’s top media adviser that there were “about 1,000 suicide attempts per month among veterans we see in our medical facilities.”...

http://thinkprogress.org/2008/04/22/va-hides-suicide-data/

Veteran Suicides: 18 every day, 1,000 attempts per month

CLOSE

Eighteen American war veterans kill themselves every day. One thousand former soldiers receiving care from the Department of Veterans Affairs attempt suicide every month. More veterans are committing suicide than are dying in combat overseas.

These are statistics that most Americans don't know, because the Bush administration has refused to tell them. Since the start of the Iraq War, the gov More..ernment has tried to present it as a war without casualties.

In fact, they never would have come to light were it not for a class action lawsuit brought by Veterans for Common Sense and Veterans United for Truth on behalf of the 1.7 million Americans who have served in Iraq and Afghanistan. The two groups allege the Department of Veterans Affairs has systematically denied mental health care and disability benefits to veterans returning from the conflict zones.

http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=b24_1212090060

Foreign Policy In Focus www.fpif.org

:cry:

:patriot:

[Goldstein1984]

6. I don't mean to go all class warfare about this

But it is the poor doing the dying.

If it were the children of the wealthy... Well, let's face it, you'll never see either the daughters of G.W. Bush or the daughters of B.H. Obama marching off to war.

[NYC_SKP]

8. No doubt. And the worsening economy sends more into the armed services.

Many progressives support a draft, I don't have to tell you.

The suicide rate is so under-reported that I just want to scream.

We have, as a country, far to go.

:patriot:

[Goldstein1984]

11. My two sons are among those

experiencing economically-induced patriotism

My youngest son has been in the Army for two years.

My older son will be joining in the next few months (His job as a machinist has been moved to China.)

[w8liftinglady]

16. I feel for you...I experienced the same thing...my son a mechanic in the south

along with a misdirected sense of patriotism after 9/11,enlisted...3 tours in Iraq-the first one doing nothing but guard duty.I remember the first time he killed someone.He called me at 11 PM,and just said"mommy,I'm scared" in a tone I haven't heard since.He hasn't allowed himself to feel since then.He was wounded his second tour-spent 6 months in Langstuhl rehabbing(bending his elbow)...do you think there was any intervention then?Do you think there was any his third deployment?They are discouraged from voicing any weakness,any fear...I don't care what anyone says.It is why almost every wartime soldier I know-My dad,My ex,my son,a lot of the nurses I know...has a substance abuse problem.It's why I have dedicated my life to Veterans for America,Veterans for Peace,and the National; Coalition for Homeless Veterans.If our government refuses to "support the troops",then it's up to us to do more than slap a ribbon on our cars.I'll keep your boys in my prayers.:hug:

[Goldstein1984]

21. Thank you.

I hope your son is doing well, and I'm going to redirect some of my charitable contributions to one or more of the organizations that you list.

I am familiar with that misdirected sense of patriotism. It's exploited by old men to make young men do the dying for them.

[Goldstein1984]

12. Yes, I do believe it.

I remember the articles.

Democracy Now! was following the case of a family whose son committed suicide during his second tour. President Obama, like previous presidents, refuses to accept suicides as casualties of war.

[FiveGoodMen]

5. Apparently, the way all those "patriots" have been "supporting the troops" hasn't been too helpful!

[demigoddess]

7. old news, I predicted this before the war even started. It always happens in long wars

It happened after vietnam and I knew it would happen again. Also we will face a decade or so of recession and high unemployment. Anything else you would like to know, study a history book.

[sharesunited]

9. Did I miss something? Do they mention the means used to COMMIT suicide?

Is it a means which is convenient, efficient and readily available in American society?

[Retired AF Dem]

13. Let me get this right

You dont really give a shit about the Vets, you just want to turn this into a anti-gun debate?

[sharesunited]

14. Access to guns is the reason they are dead. I care about them. You care about guns.

[Retired AF Dem]

15. I'm a vet

and I own several guns. If I decided to do myself in it would be with sleeping pills and Wild Turkey. Nope, you have your own agenda, and caring for vets isnt one of them.

[sharesunited]

17. You have plenty of time to change your mind with sleeping pills and Wild Turkey.

A gun is convenient, effective, and instantaneous. Great for an impulsive act. No turning back.

I'm the compassionate one.

You love guns too much.

[Retired AF Dem]

19. Guns are not mentioned by the OP

or the link. Your agenda.

[Goldstein1984]

20. I didn't step into this one because, as you noted, the question

of how is irrelevant.

There's just as much time to think with guns and with a rope or a jump off of a building.

If I were suicidal, and I had sleeping pills available, the easy and clean path out would be my preference.

The point is, the soldiers are being damaged by their war experience(s), and they are not receiving proper care once they return.

Thanks for your service. I did 4.5 years in the Marines. My son is currently in the Army and scheduled to deploy to Afghanistan this spring. My other son is about to join (He and his wife are expecting our fourth grandchild, and his job has been free-traded over to China--they are opting for the government-run health plan.

[Retired AF Dem]

23. Goldstein

Thank you for your service. Your son will be in my prayers. My son has been in Iraq once. He is now on shore duty for the next three years.

[sharesunited]

22. I noticed that the method used was not mentioned. First thing I said. Curious, too.

Because you and I both know how most of them chose to do it.

[NYC_SKP]

24. No, feelings of guilt and utter hopelessness and despair are the reasons they are dead.

If they don't get guns they'll get knives, drugs, rope.

Look into how many of these suicides are gun related, how many are not.

:patriot:

[Quantess]

10. Terrible.

[TexasObserver]

18. Recommend

[HughMoran]

25. You mean 'have been soaring'

We were discussing the rising suicide rates during Bushco when the rates initially started rising rapidly.

[Goldstein1984]

26. Yes, flying back to Anchorage from Cordova today I was

talking to a nurse who had worked at Walter Reed. He said he decided to end what he intended to be a career in the Army because of the failure to treat emotional wounds.

He also told me that the stories we see on the news about soldiers getting prosthetic limbs and returning to combat is propaganda. It does happen, but most soldiers don't believe in the wars once they've experienced them first hand.