Toll of war seen in increased suicide rates among young male veterans

Sep 10 2008

According to the American Department of Veterans Affairs, the suicide rate among young male veterans who served during the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan reached a record high in 2006.

Data has revealed that the suicide rate among young male soldiers was more than double that of male civilians in the same age group.

In 2006 there were 46 suicides per 100,000 in the 18 to 29 age group, compared with a rate of 20 per 100,000 for civilians.

For female veterans in the same age group, about 3 in 100,000 killed themselves in 2006, compared with about 8 per 100,000 in 2005.

The data also showed an increase in suicide rates after September 11, 2001 - 141 male veterans committed suicide between 2002 and 2005 - compared with 113 in 2006.

The data was released along with a study conducted by a panel of mental health experts who have come up with recommendations to help reduce the number of suicides among veterans.

The recommendations include research to identify suicide risks among veterans and increased efforts to screen veterans with depression or post-traumatic stress disorder for suicide risk and also improved efforts to prescribe appropriate medications to treat depression, suicidal behaviour and PTSD among veterans.

Officials attribute the rise in suicides to anxiety and stress from increased operations and more deployments.

According to Army statistics as of August, 62 Army soldiers have committed suicide, and 31 cases of possible suicide remain under investigation - last year, the Army recorded 115 suicides among its ranks, which was also higher than the previous year.