Veteran Suicides

[keefe]

I am not sure people are aware but death from suicide among veterans far exceeds death from direct combat causes. And the veteran suicide rate is far higher than the national average for both men and women.

Within JSOC the PTSD rate is much higher than for regular line units. More USAF TACPs have died from suicide than from direct combat and 100% of those members had PTSD. We are all on Prazosin to control PTSD related nightmares but the younger vets struggle with the everyday world.

22 OIF and OEF vets kill themselves every day. And the cost extends deeply into the families of vets along several crucial dimensions.

A USAF female from Milwaukee committed suicide recently and her story is hardly unusual.

http://news.yahoo.com/air-force-veteran-s-suicide-sheds-light-on-female-soldiers-and-ptsd-144907870.html


http://www.businessinsider.com/the-8000-mile-sniper-shot-ive-lost-friends-to-combat-now-im-losing-them-to-suicide-2012-9


http://www.cnn.com/interactive/2014/03/us/uncounted-suicides/

[rocket surgeon]

read this as i was watching the 60 minutes episode-scott pelley interviewing marines from a company that fought in Afghanistan which suffered a high casualty rate-very sad.  despite what they have been through, when asked if they would do it all over again, did not hesitate a milli-second-YES.  wow!  our veterans are very extraordinary people.  they are also taken for granted and in many instances minimized-very sad.  but even worse-what you keefe have brought up.  i'm not sure what the remedy is.  you have guys like chris kyle and then you have many others who suffer silently.  how do you erase the memories stamped into their mind, send them home, and expect them to go on as if nothing happened?  my prayers go out to all of them-living and...thanking God we have/had people like them as we live in a country despite it's issues, are nothing compared to what they have been through-we all need to be reminded-unfortunately often, as how many times do we need to see Christ crucified to understand there is evil in this world-our vets are the good guys

[brandx]

read this as i was watching the 60 minutes episode-scott pelley interviewing marines from a company that fought in Afghanistan which suffered a high casualty rate-very sad.  despite what they have been through, when asked if they would do it all over again, did not hesitate a milli-second-YES.  wow!  our veterans are very extraordinary people.  they are also taken for granted and in many instances minimized-very sad.  but even worse-what you keefe have brought up.  i'm not sure what the remedy is.  you have guys like chris kyle and then you have many others who suffer silently.  how do you erase the memories stamped into their mind, send them home, and expect them to go on as if nothing happened?  my prayers go out to all of them-living and...thanking God we have/had people like them as we live in a country despite it's issues, are nothing compared to what they have been through-we all need to be reminded-unfortunately often, as how many times do we need to see Christ crucified to understand there is evil in this world-our vets are the good guys

Wow, your posts are really hard to read. Think sentence structure next time you post?

But.... I agree with what you say here.

I think

[rocket surgeon]

sorry-that's just how i roll, but thanks

[tower912]

I've been doing Critical Incident Stress work with my fire department for 16 years.   I have had a few one-on-one meetings with some of my department's vets.  Firefighters and police officers have more PTSD than the general public, but nothing compared to our soldiers.   There is no easy answer.   One would hope that all of our returning heroes would have the appropriate resources available to them.   Sadly, sometimes even when they do, and even when the soldiers make use of the resources, it isn't enough.     This problem is not going to go away or get smaller. 

[Hards Alumni]

I am not sure people are aware but death from suicide among veterans far exceeds death from direct combat causes. And the veteran suicide rate is far higher than the national average for both men and women.

Within JSOC the PTSD rate is much higher than for regular line units. More USAF TACPs have died from suicide than from direct combat and 100% of those members had PTSD. We are all on Prazosin to control PTSD related nightmares but the younger vets struggle with the everyday world.

22 OIF and OEF vets kill themselves every day. And the cost extends deeply into the families of vets along several crucial dimensions.

A USAF female from Milwaukee committed suicide recently and her story is hardly unusual.

http://news.yahoo.com/air-force-veteran-s-suicide-sheds-light-on-female-soldiers-and-ptsd-144907870.html


http://www.businessinsider.com/the-8000-mile-sniper-shot-ive-lost-friends-to-combat-now-im-losing-them-to-suicide-2012-9


http://www.cnn.com/interactive/2014/03/us/uncounted-suicides/

Not to mention homelessness and mental disorders among veterans.