A War Inside: Saving Veterans from Suicide

Newswise — An estimated 18 American military veterans take their own lives every day - thousands each year - and those numbers are steadily increasing. Even after weathering the stresses of military life and the terrors of combat, these soldiers find themselves overwhelmed by the transition back into civilian life. Many have already survived one suicide attempt, but never received the extra help and support they needed, with tragic results. A team of researchers from the University of Pennsylvania and colleagues discovered that veterans who have attempted suicide not only have an elevated risk of further suicide attempts, but face mortality risks from all causes at a rate three times greater than the general population. Their research was published in Biomed Central Public Health.

Therese S. Richmond, an associate professor at Penn Nursing, was part of a team involved in the study which was the largest follow-up of suicide attempters in any group in the United States, and is unique even among the relatively few studies on veteran suicide.

"Veterans who have attempted suicide face elevated risks of all-cause mortality with suicide being prominent. This represents an important population for prevention activities," explains co-investigator Richmond.

"We looked at suicide among veterans who had already attempted suicide one time," notes study author Douglas J. Wiebe, PhD, assistant professor of Epidemiology. The findings, he says, "should have us very concerned about current veterans in the more contemporary era."

Joseph Conigliaro of the New York University School of Medicine to conduct a study of military veterans who received inpatient treatment at a Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) medical center for a suicide attempt between 1993 and 1998. Using additional data from the VA, as well as the National Center of Health Statistics, these veterans were followed for incidence, rate, and cause of mortality through the end of 2002.

The study strongly urges the increased need for rigorous efforts to identify and support at-risk veterans, especially those who have previously attempted suicide, say the authors. With military personnel now facing combat in numbers not seen since the Vietnam War, developing better strategies for suicide prevention is more important than ever.

Source: The Pulse - May 2011, The Philadelphia Veterans Affairs Medical Center