Study Looks at Suicide in Veterans?

In the study, Kara Zivin, a psychiatric researcher at the University of Michigan and the veterans’ agency, led a research team that evaluated records for 807,694 veterans treated in the system between April 1999 and September 2004. The group included men and women who had served in Vietnam, the Gulf War, Iraq and Afghanistan, though the researchers did not do separate analysis for each conflict.


The study did not evaluate the methods used in the suicides, which could also account from some differences between veterans and nonveterans. In the study among veterans living in the community published last summer, which was led by Dr. Kaplan, more than 80 percent of the suicides were committed with a gun. The rate in non-nveterans was 55 percent.
The study, a joint effort between the University of Michigan and the veterans’ agency that included detailed records from more than 800,000 veterans, is the largest and most comprehensive in this group of patients and the first to include troops returning from Iraq and Afghanistan.

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Study Looks at Suicide in Veterans

By BENEDICT CAREY
Published: October 30, 2007
Veterans receiving treatment for depression are no more likely to take their own lives than civilian patients, according to a large Veterans Affairs study published this afternoon.

So what did they include? Which veterans were tested and studied? First off no one can take this seriously simply because they did not bother to check records from every newspaper across the country to see how many veterans committed suicide. That would have been a great place to start simply because most of them never saw a single VA doctor, either because they didn't know what PTSD was, or because they didn't trust them at all. Given the fact so many claims are still trapped in the system, you also need to look at how many applied for a disability connected to PTSD and were denied, never to darken the door to a VA hospital or clinic again. They need to look at what the DOD has found from veterans within their own files. Those committing suicide back home on bases across the country as well as those committing suicide "in country" under their command.

In cities and towns across this country, there are many veterans in the obituary pages dying at a fairly young age. Some die because of Agent Orange, other chemical exposures, but when you read the words, "suddenly" alarm bells should sound, but not necessarily connected to PTSD and suicide.

Let's put this in terms people like me can understand without having to read reports like this several times before they can understand it. Unless they can manage to take a study seriously, by separating them by branch of service, combat or none combat duty, then none of their studies will add up to the paper they are printed on.

You could have a Marine, never setting foot in Iraq or Afghanistan, included in a study like this. You could end up not taking into consideration someone from the Air Force, who was in Iraq or Afghanistan. There are too many open ends to this. In WWII there were survivors of kamikaze pilots hitting ships. You wouldn't think off hand someone who had never set foot in battle developing PTSD, but a sailor on one of these ships would develop PTSD.

In Vietnam, it was not just the grunts, but the helicopter pilots who were favorite targets of the VC. Today in Iraq and Afghanistan, there are not as many being shot down but they are being shot at.

Did this study include veterans who knew or saw someone blown apart? Did they include veterans who were shot at or even near an IED? Did they include people working in the motor pool who had to retrieve body parts along with burnt out vehicles?

When they look at the suicide rates of civilians, they also need to take into consideration if the person was involved in a traumatic event. When they look at events, like 9-11 and Katrina for examples, the rates of suicide are much higher. They need to look at everything when they are trying to study the aftermath of trauma and all traumas for comparison. These are not random suicides over a broken heart, bad grades or no friends. PTSD suicides are born from trauma. The rest of the population seeking suicide are a blended mix of environment, mental illnesses, support systems, education and faith. Suicide comes with the lack of hope. In PTSD wounded most of the suicides come from the lack of knowledge which offers hope.

This is my opinion but I'm going to wait until experts take a look at this study. It's happened before and the studies in the past have been proven wrong. This one just doesn't seem to have all the dots connected.