Commentary: Veterans’ suicide rate alarming
According to a study in the American Journal of Public Health, the causes for suicides among post-9/11 veterans included mental health, substance abuse and relationship problems.
Veterans from previous war periods are more likely to suffer from mental and physical health problems that will contribute to suicides among veterans, the journal articles states.
It is a heartbreaking fact that an average of 22 veterans committed suicide every day in 21 U.S. states providing data, according to a Department of Veterans Affairs, Mental Health Services, Suicide Prevention Program published in 2013.
To put that number in perspective, that equates to 8,030 veteran suicides in a year, or more than 40,000 veterans in five years in states that make up about 40% of the U.S. population, according to the Huffington Post.
Late on a recent night I received a phone call from my veteran friend from Texas. He told me how much he longed for deployments and for a combat death. He told me how useless he felt because no one will hire him, and his family has to live in his uncle’s garage until he gets back on his feet.
After 10 years, and three combat deployments as a line medic in Iraq and Afghanistan, he has been diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and depression. He has put in a Veterans Administration claim for his conditions, but, of course, it has been on backlog since March 2014. He said he has wanted to ends his life every day since he has left the Army, and the only thing that silences his demons is his newborn son.
This conversation of suicide is not anything new to me. Before my friend from Texas called me, I was receiving calls from my battle buddies in Ohio, California, Washington and Virginia. They all have different stories with similar struggles, but the same conclusion: suicidal thoughts.
In January 2010, I transitioned out of the Army and moved to California and enrolled in community college. Immediately, I began to realize the struggles veterans have once they leave the service. The feelings of isolation, the struggles with unemployment, PTSD, mental-health issues, financial struggles, homelessness, substance abuse, domestic abuse and what no one wants to hear — suicide.
Suicide rates among the veteran population in the United States are such an epidemic that it demands a federal intervention. On Feb. 12, President Obama signed the Clay Hunt Veteran Suicide Prevention Act into law. The legislation itself contains many key action items that will increase access to mental health and suicide-prevention programs, as well as holding the V.A. accountable for the implementation of these programs.
Mental health issues are the main factor that contributes to higher suicide rates among veterans from different war periods. The rate of PTSD among returning veterans has increased 100-fold from 2002 to 2011. Combat veterans are 2-5 times more likely to develop PTSD. It’s not just our boys in uniform who are affected by these invisible wounds; females are now the fastest-growing segment of the veteran population.
Female veterans are more likely to screen positive for PTSD, depression and anxiety disorders then their male counterpart, particularly when they are the victims of sexual trauma.
The issue of veteran suicide is without limits, for every person knows a veteran, be he or she a family member or friend who is touched by this issue at some level. The Clay Hunt Act will not solve the issue of veteran suicide, but it’s a start.
Veteran hospitals only do some much. It’s up to people in our communities to support grass-roots veteran organizations that are on the front lines helping veterans. As a nation, we should be ever-vigilant in our care for veterans.
In the month of May, we commemorate and remember those who we lost in war on Memorial Day. Don’t forget those who are still fighting an internal battle when they return home from military service. Some of us have been fighting for decades and some have just begun. It’s 22 suicides today and another 22 suicides tomorrow.
Santa Ana resident JESSICA GARCIA is graduate student in social work at USC’s Irvine campus.