The Terrible Toll of Military and Veteran Suicides
Sept 25, 2013 21:08:17 GMT -6
Post by Moderator on Sept 25, 2013 21:08:17 GMT -6
The Terrible Toll of Military and Veteran Suicides
by Jeff Seeber, Director
Military Salute Project
September 25, 2013
Media reports earlier this year about Veteran suicides typically ran the headline "22 Veterans take their own lives every day". Because of the way suicides are reported in the United States, the actual number is probably double. Instead of a Veteran committing suicide every 65 minutes, it's much more likely that a Veteran dies by his or her own hand every 30 minutes, 24 hours a day, 7 days per week, 52 weeks per year.
The "22 per day" figure released by the Department of Veterans Affairs in February, 2013 is based on the agency's own data and statistics reported by 21 states from 1999 through 2011. Those 21 states represent about 40% of America's population. The two largest states, California and Texas, and the fifth-largest state, Illinois, did not make their data available.
There is no uniform reporting system for deaths in America. It's usually up to a funeral director or a coroner to enter Veteran status and suicide on a death certificate. Veteran status is a single question on the death report, and there is no verification of it from the Department of Defense or the VA.
More than 34,000 suicides from the 21 states that reported data to the VA were discarded because the state death records failed to indicate whether the deceased was a Veteran. That's 23% of the recorded suicides from those states. Therefore, the study looked at about 77% of the recorded suicides in only 40% of the U.S. population. Only 67% of female Veterans were identified. Younger or unmarried Veterans and those with lower levels of education are also more likely to be missed on a death certificate.
A homeless person who has no one to vouch for his or her Veteran status will not be counted. The families of some Veterans ask coroners to list the cause of death as something other than suicide because of the stigma associated with mental illness. If a Veteran intentionally crashes a car or dies of a drug overdose and leaves no note, that death is not counted as suicide. Also, "suicide by cop" is not counted in suicide data. The most prevalent method of suicide used by Veterans is prescription drug overdose, usually combined with alcohol. These deaths are often classified as accidental and not reported as a suicide.
Nearly 20% of suicides nationwide is a Veteran, even though Veterans make up under 10% of the population. The annual suicide rate among Veterans is about 30 for every 100,000 of the population, compared with the civilian rate of 14 per 100,000. The suicide rate for Veterans increased an average of 2.6% a year from 2005 to 2011, more than double the rate of increase for civilian suicide.
Nearly 70% of Veteran suicides occur among males 50 and older. Mental health professionals think that these men give up on life after their children are out of the house, a longtime marriage falls apart, or the Veteran contracts a serious or chronic illness. They are likely to be Vietnam Veterans who returned from war to a hostile public and an unresponsive VA. Many are diagnosed with one or more cancers related to Agent Orange. During and after the Vietnam War, combat stress was chalked up to being "crazy" and many Vietnam Veterans lived with ghosts in their heads without seeking help.
Even though older Veterans are more likely to commit suicide, the percentage of suicides by Veterans of America's most recent wars increases annually. Between October, 2006 and June, 2013 the Veterans Crisis Line has received more than 890,000 calls, not including chats and text messages, with the number increasing every year.
More than 349 active-duty servicemembers committed suicide in 2012, or one every 25 hours. The Army sustained 182 suicides, surpassing the 176 soldiers killed in combat while serving in support of Operation Enduring Freedom. There were 60 suicides among Navy personnel, 59 in the Air Force and 48 in the Marine Corps. Not included were 110 pending reported suicides among active-duty personnel in 2012 that were still being investigated.
Throughout the United States military, suicides increased by nearly 16 percent from 2011 to 2012. A survey conducted by the Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America revealed that 30% of servicemembers have considered taking their own life, and 45% said they know an Iraq or Afghanistan Veteran who has attempted suicide.
Based on 20 years of assisting Veterans to secure VA benefits and spending countless hours exchanging e-mails and messages with active-duty personnel and Veterans who are fighting depression or contemplating suicide, it is my opinion that peer-to-peer contact works best. All of the military branches have launched programs to encourage counseling, yet all of the branches still penalize many of those who seek help, despite the fact that the branches insist it no longer happens.
Very few VA mental health professionals have military experience, much less combat experience. That's understandable because of the schooling required to attain medical credentials, but it's less than helpful when dealing with a combat Veteran trying to explain the horrendous experiences of war. In addition, VA staff has a limited amount of time to deal with each patient. The system is designed to fail by its very nature.
Many situations can be gradually defused by LISTENING. Listening takes time. Neither military mental health professionals nor VA mental health professionals have the time that is required to spend with each patient. It's much easier to prescribe medications and schedule a one-hour appointment for next week or next month. Far too often, those very medications are used to commit suicide.
While on active duty, and especially in combat, military personnel watch out for their buddies. They take care of each other. That's the same process that can stem the flood of suicides, in my opinion. In fact, I think it is the ONLY way to slow the carnage.
The same applies to Veterans. Veterans need to stay in touch with each other so that they have someone to talk to who knows what they know and have seen what they saw. It is much more likely that a buddy will have the time, or will take the time, to listen to a friend in trouble. A friend will listen while a buddy rambles incoherently, cries, curses or whatever else needs to be done until the buddy reaches the point where he or she can begin to deal with the particular horror causing the immediate problem. If it takes hours, it takes hours. If it takes days, it takes days.
I am by no means suggesting that mental health professionals have no part to play. Of course, they do. Sometimes medications are absolutely necessary. Sometimes trained doctors can draw out problems that might not be service-related but are playing a part in the problem. But, expecting a Veteran to talk to someone who has never served or who has never been in a combat zone defies common sense.
Another major problem is that both the military and the VA are seriously understaffed. A Veteran considering suicide who happens to be ready to reach out for help simply can't wait a week or a month for an appointment. The demons will consume the Veteran by then.
The overwhelming majority of Americans are obviously unwilling to adequately fund the Department of Veterans Affairs. Backlogged benefits cases, understaffed mental health and medical clinics, combined with waiting periods of weeks or months to gain access to clinics once the Veteran is declared eligible again threaten the medical and mental health of America's Veterans just as it did from the 1970s into the 1990s. Most Americans enjoy their freedom, but they would rather not take care of those who provide those freedoms. Those of us who have worn a uniform must take care of our own.
If you are serving on active-duty, watch out for your buddies. If you are a Veteran, keep in contact with your buddies, whether by phone, social media, Veterans clubs or Veteran support groups. Check on them from time to time. Watch for signs of hopelessness, depression, sleeplessness, giving things away, sudden changes in drinking habits, secretive behavior and anything else you notice that might be different. When you notice something, say something. Try to get your buddy to talk, and then LISTEN. Just shut up and LISTEN. We must try to help each other because the other "solutions" simply are not working.
-----------------------------------------------
The statistical information included herein was compiled from the U.S. Department of Defense, the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, the Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America (IAVA), CNN, NBC News and News21.
by Jeff Seeber, Director
Military Salute Project
September 25, 2013
Media reports earlier this year about Veteran suicides typically ran the headline "22 Veterans take their own lives every day". Because of the way suicides are reported in the United States, the actual number is probably double. Instead of a Veteran committing suicide every 65 minutes, it's much more likely that a Veteran dies by his or her own hand every 30 minutes, 24 hours a day, 7 days per week, 52 weeks per year.
The "22 per day" figure released by the Department of Veterans Affairs in February, 2013 is based on the agency's own data and statistics reported by 21 states from 1999 through 2011. Those 21 states represent about 40% of America's population. The two largest states, California and Texas, and the fifth-largest state, Illinois, did not make their data available.
There is no uniform reporting system for deaths in America. It's usually up to a funeral director or a coroner to enter Veteran status and suicide on a death certificate. Veteran status is a single question on the death report, and there is no verification of it from the Department of Defense or the VA.
More than 34,000 suicides from the 21 states that reported data to the VA were discarded because the state death records failed to indicate whether the deceased was a Veteran. That's 23% of the recorded suicides from those states. Therefore, the study looked at about 77% of the recorded suicides in only 40% of the U.S. population. Only 67% of female Veterans were identified. Younger or unmarried Veterans and those with lower levels of education are also more likely to be missed on a death certificate.
A homeless person who has no one to vouch for his or her Veteran status will not be counted. The families of some Veterans ask coroners to list the cause of death as something other than suicide because of the stigma associated with mental illness. If a Veteran intentionally crashes a car or dies of a drug overdose and leaves no note, that death is not counted as suicide. Also, "suicide by cop" is not counted in suicide data. The most prevalent method of suicide used by Veterans is prescription drug overdose, usually combined with alcohol. These deaths are often classified as accidental and not reported as a suicide.
Nearly 20% of suicides nationwide is a Veteran, even though Veterans make up under 10% of the population. The annual suicide rate among Veterans is about 30 for every 100,000 of the population, compared with the civilian rate of 14 per 100,000. The suicide rate for Veterans increased an average of 2.6% a year from 2005 to 2011, more than double the rate of increase for civilian suicide.
Nearly 70% of Veteran suicides occur among males 50 and older. Mental health professionals think that these men give up on life after their children are out of the house, a longtime marriage falls apart, or the Veteran contracts a serious or chronic illness. They are likely to be Vietnam Veterans who returned from war to a hostile public and an unresponsive VA. Many are diagnosed with one or more cancers related to Agent Orange. During and after the Vietnam War, combat stress was chalked up to being "crazy" and many Vietnam Veterans lived with ghosts in their heads without seeking help.
Even though older Veterans are more likely to commit suicide, the percentage of suicides by Veterans of America's most recent wars increases annually. Between October, 2006 and June, 2013 the Veterans Crisis Line has received more than 890,000 calls, not including chats and text messages, with the number increasing every year.
More than 349 active-duty servicemembers committed suicide in 2012, or one every 25 hours. The Army sustained 182 suicides, surpassing the 176 soldiers killed in combat while serving in support of Operation Enduring Freedom. There were 60 suicides among Navy personnel, 59 in the Air Force and 48 in the Marine Corps. Not included were 110 pending reported suicides among active-duty personnel in 2012 that were still being investigated.
Throughout the United States military, suicides increased by nearly 16 percent from 2011 to 2012. A survey conducted by the Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America revealed that 30% of servicemembers have considered taking their own life, and 45% said they know an Iraq or Afghanistan Veteran who has attempted suicide.
Based on 20 years of assisting Veterans to secure VA benefits and spending countless hours exchanging e-mails and messages with active-duty personnel and Veterans who are fighting depression or contemplating suicide, it is my opinion that peer-to-peer contact works best. All of the military branches have launched programs to encourage counseling, yet all of the branches still penalize many of those who seek help, despite the fact that the branches insist it no longer happens.
Very few VA mental health professionals have military experience, much less combat experience. That's understandable because of the schooling required to attain medical credentials, but it's less than helpful when dealing with a combat Veteran trying to explain the horrendous experiences of war. In addition, VA staff has a limited amount of time to deal with each patient. The system is designed to fail by its very nature.
Many situations can be gradually defused by LISTENING. Listening takes time. Neither military mental health professionals nor VA mental health professionals have the time that is required to spend with each patient. It's much easier to prescribe medications and schedule a one-hour appointment for next week or next month. Far too often, those very medications are used to commit suicide.
While on active duty, and especially in combat, military personnel watch out for their buddies. They take care of each other. That's the same process that can stem the flood of suicides, in my opinion. In fact, I think it is the ONLY way to slow the carnage.
The same applies to Veterans. Veterans need to stay in touch with each other so that they have someone to talk to who knows what they know and have seen what they saw. It is much more likely that a buddy will have the time, or will take the time, to listen to a friend in trouble. A friend will listen while a buddy rambles incoherently, cries, curses or whatever else needs to be done until the buddy reaches the point where he or she can begin to deal with the particular horror causing the immediate problem. If it takes hours, it takes hours. If it takes days, it takes days.
I am by no means suggesting that mental health professionals have no part to play. Of course, they do. Sometimes medications are absolutely necessary. Sometimes trained doctors can draw out problems that might not be service-related but are playing a part in the problem. But, expecting a Veteran to talk to someone who has never served or who has never been in a combat zone defies common sense.
Another major problem is that both the military and the VA are seriously understaffed. A Veteran considering suicide who happens to be ready to reach out for help simply can't wait a week or a month for an appointment. The demons will consume the Veteran by then.
The overwhelming majority of Americans are obviously unwilling to adequately fund the Department of Veterans Affairs. Backlogged benefits cases, understaffed mental health and medical clinics, combined with waiting periods of weeks or months to gain access to clinics once the Veteran is declared eligible again threaten the medical and mental health of America's Veterans just as it did from the 1970s into the 1990s. Most Americans enjoy their freedom, but they would rather not take care of those who provide those freedoms. Those of us who have worn a uniform must take care of our own.
If you are serving on active-duty, watch out for your buddies. If you are a Veteran, keep in contact with your buddies, whether by phone, social media, Veterans clubs or Veteran support groups. Check on them from time to time. Watch for signs of hopelessness, depression, sleeplessness, giving things away, sudden changes in drinking habits, secretive behavior and anything else you notice that might be different. When you notice something, say something. Try to get your buddy to talk, and then LISTEN. Just shut up and LISTEN. We must try to help each other because the other "solutions" simply are not working.
-----------------------------------------------
The statistical information included herein was compiled from the U.S. Department of Defense, the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, the Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America (IAVA), CNN, NBC News and News21.