US military veterans are dying at a rate by suicide 12x that of in the Middle East

[HitandRun Reggie]

Obama is signing the Clay Hunt Suicide Prevention for American Veterans Act as you read this, because so many American veterans are offing themselves. 22 vets per day are committing suicide, and according to the Huffington Post, the number is actually higher than that. I think the average American deaths per MONTH in both Iraq and Afghanistan combined was 55 soldiers.

Has anyone here served in the military, particularly in combat? What effect does your service do to your mental well being?

http://www.politicususa.com/2015/02/11/clay-hunt-act-signed-law-president-obama-thursday.html

[~primetime~]

What % of vets total end up committing suicide in comparison to the % of regular citizens?

It's hard to know how significant 22 a day is...it definitely sounds significant and alarming though.

[JEFFERSON MONEY]

Brainstorm ideas on retaining mortality. Now. SSRI's be damned.

Let's Start With.
Allocating a substantial portions of resources to build YMCA-esque centers loaded with recreation, gym, and MiB-esque memory destroying devices to preserve the lives of heroes.

[~primetime~]

In 2013, the United States Department of Veterans Affairs released a study that covered suicides from 1999 to 2010, which showed that roughly 22 veterans were committing suicide per day, or one every 65 minutes.[4] Some sources suggest that this rate may be undercounting suicides.[5] A recent analysis found an suicide rate among veterans of about 30 per 100,000 population per year, compared with the civilian rate of 14 per 100,000.[5][6] However, the comparison was not adjusted for age and sex.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_military_veteran_suicide_epidemic

So it's like double the general population.

I feel like it could be a tad misleading...in that the average vet is probably more prone to suicide from the get go vs general population

[HitandRun Reggie]

What % of vets total end up committing suicide in comparison to the % of regular citizens?

It's hard to know how significant 22 a day is...it definitely sounds significant and alarming though.

The suicide rate in the US is 10.7 per 100000, for veterans it's 27 per 100000. But most veterans are male, which have higher suicide rates than women, so the number is most likely slightly less than double the national average.

[HitandRun Reggie]

Ahh I see you did your own digging. But another thing to consider is that the military weeds out a lot of applicants who have medical or mental disabilities, so considering that, veteran suicide rates should be MUCH lower than the national average, not almost twice as much.

[~primetime~]

Ahh I see you did your own digging. But another thing to consider is that the military weeds out a lot of applicants who have medical or mental disabilities, so considering that, veteran suicide rates should be MUCH lower than the national average, not almost twice as much.
I don't view it that way. A decent portion of the military consists of males with no other direction to go in life.

My GUESS is that the military's "mental screening" is probably bare bones and reserved for obvious red flags like diagnosed schizophrenia or bipolar disorder. But that's just a guess.



Not trying to make the case war/military has no effects on the human psyche btw...I am just considering that it might be over-hyped a bit

[~primetime~]

Would be telling to see the suicide rate of vets that never saw battle

[Demon Lizard]

The obvious solution to this ratio is more combat.

[HitandRun Reggie]

I don't view it that way. A decent portion of the military consists of males with no other direction to go in life.



I don't believe that to be the case. Every young male who chooses to go into the military can do the same as his high school buddies. College or try scrape by with some minimum wage job until something better comes by. Men who go into the military IMO have more direction than other citizens, and consider how the military service will benefit them afterwards. The is a reason veterans have higher incomes and employment rates than non-veterans.

http://www.dol.gov/_sec/media/reports/veteranslaborforce/

[~primetime~]

I don't believe that to be the case. Every young male who chooses to go into the military can do the same as his high school buddies. College or try scrape by with some minimum wage job until something better comes by. Men who go into the military IMO have more direction than other citizens, and consider how the military service will benefit them afterwards. The is a reason veterans have higher incomes and employment rates than non-veterans.

http://www.dol.gov/_sec/media/reports/veteranslaborforce/
Is someone close to you (or you) suffering from PTSD?

[longhornfan1234]

Obama asking Congress to enter another war.


Thanks, Obama... :facepalm

[Demon Lizard]

Obama asking Congress to enter another war.


Thanks, Obama... :facepalm

It is only OK when Bush does it, right?

[HitandRun Reggie]

Is someone close to you (or you) suffering from PTSD?

Nope. I have 2 close friends who went into the military, one to the Navy, one went to the Marines, both are out now. I also have a cousin in the Navy right now. None have PTSD that I know of.

[rufuspaul]

A guy I went to high school with killed himself last summer. He was ROTC in college, went in as a 2nd lt. and quickly climbed the ranks. He was a Lt. Colonel returning from his 4th deployment. I chatted with him on Facebook when he got back and he seemed fine. A week later he put a gun in his mouth.

[Meticode]

They probably know the world is going in the shitter and don't care anymore. Something we fail to realize as sheep.

[Joshumitsu]

Statistically, it's still lower than the national average.

With veterans, I think there is a lot of them coming back and feeling they did nothing the past 4-10 years and thus, have wasted their prime years. Contrary to popular belief and the movies, most of the military is just sitting/cleaning/BSing around rather than performing a job or doing anything majorly important.

In fact, the vast majority of suicides are actually from people who haven't seen combat.

Thus, once they get out, they have:

* Low job opportunities. I hear military resumes get sent to bottom of pile.

* Lack of connection w/ civilians. One side of the political spectrum will victimize them as tools of political greed/baby killers (like that f*ggot above me) and the other side will blindly hero worship them. They don't get treated like normal people.

* Family and friends they used to know have all went their own ways. And I'm sure the veteran has grown in different ways too.

* The lifestyle many became accustomed to in the military is different from civilian life (like in Shawshank Redemption, "institutionalized"). Many end up missing the military lifestyle. However, it is very tough to re-enlist if you're a veteran. The military wants fresh meat.

Thus, it's a very alienating process for veterans.

[Joshumitsu]

Brainstorm ideas on retaining mortality. Now. SSRI's be damned.

Let's Start With.
Allocating a substantial portions of resources to build YMCA-esque centers loaded with recreation, gym, and MiB-esque memory destroying devices to preserve the lives of heroes.

This is a good idea.

With today's veterans, you have a very pro-active Kickstarter type generation.

For example: Veteran Groups like Team Rubicon where guys and gals get together to hang out, help the community, build connections, create businesses, etc

Thus, the treatment requires more programs aimed at the current veteran generation. Gyms, certification classes, community outreach, rehab, faith/spiritual centers should all be applied to the VA's approach.

And, I think not only would this help veterans, but it'd also benefit people with mental health issues because the rest of society can help pool resources and try to find ways of integrating people into a world where they, otherwise, don't feel like they belong.

[JohnFreeman]

WW2 vets are the hard cvnts

[Bandito]

Is someone close to you (or you) suffering from PTSD?
You put it as all who go into the military see combat which is not true at all. It depends on the job you pick. If they chose a job they didnt like because they decided to be Rambo or just because their preparation for the entrance exam was non existent it's their problem. I got a nice score and if I get to go to the combat zone the closest I am going to be in the red zone is the medical tent inside the base. Because of the nature of my job there is a low chance to see combat unless the terrorist actually invade the base and everyone is killed.

[sweggeh]

If I had done the things some of them have done in the name of "freedom", I'd off myself too. There comes a point where the guilt is just too much.

[Bandito]

If I had done the things some of them have done in the name of "freedom", I'd off myself too. There comes a point where the guilt is just too much.
Instead you're here posting over 40 times using your alts making tranny threads and other stupid stuff.


I see you LOLCATS:roll:

[KevinNYC]

Statistically, it's still lower than the national average.
How?

[KevinNYC]

Obama asking Congress to enter another war.


Thanks, Obama... :facepalm

You think the President going to Congress is a bad thing? Considering we've been fighting this war for months?

[ILLsmak]

America is shit and everyone knows it. It's all fake. All of the bullshit advertisement and even our 'war reasons.' Dudes come back as vets and they aren't as celebrated, the ones who are depressed probably end up feeling vaguely used.

It's just wack. Imagine going over to where-ever feeling as though you are going to make a difference and improve the world. Or free some country from the grasp of a dictator. And then you are above-average intelligence and see what's really happening.

Plus yea drugs... I don't think mental illness drugs are helping anyone other than making the more docile.

Sad shit. We need a revolution...!

-Smak

[KevinNYC]

America is shit and everyone knows it. It's all fake. All of the bullshit advertisement and even our 'war reasons.' Dudes come back as vets and they aren't as celebrated, the ones who are depressed probably end up feeling vaguely used.

It's just wack. Imagine going over to where-ever feeling as though you are going to make a difference and improve the world. Or free some country from the grasp of a dictator. And then you are above-average intelligence and see what's really happening.

Plus yea drugs... I don't think mental illness drugs are helping anyone other than making the more docile.

Sad shit. We need a revolution...!

-Smak

Kind of a rambling post, but this part

Plus yea drugs... I don't think mental illness drugs are helping anyone other than making the more docile. sounds like a glib argument from someone doesn't suffer from mental illness or doesn't know someone who does. Trauma does weird/****ed up things to humans. I'm sure vets who suffer from Post Tramautic Stress Disorder would be quite happy to take a drug that works.

[Jailblazers7]

Ahh I see you did your own digging. But another thing to consider is that the military weeds out a lot of applicants who have medical or mental disabilities, so considering that, veteran suicide rates should be MUCH lower than the national average, not almost twice as much.

I don't think that matters considering the impact that participating in a war will have on your mental stability. Having a suicide rate 2-3x the gen population is not that surprising considering soldiers might have limbs amputated, brain injuries, mental disorders, etc.

Is the rate trending upwards or has this been about the level of the suicide rate for soldiers since they started collecting data?