What PTSD numbers really mean

Half a million soldiers are being asked to take part in the biggest ever investigation into the number of suicides in the US armed forces.

Last year, 143 soldiers killed themselves and there were 113 suicides in the other armed services - the highest number since records began 30 years ago.

Already this year there have been more than 100 reported suicides among soldiers on active duty.

This report came from the BBC the beginning of September. This does not include suspected suicides or non-combat deaths that are still under investigation. We do not know how many attempted suicides in the military there were.

We also know there are 18 veterans a day committing suicide and another 10,000 a year attempt suicide. This number only represents the figures given to the VA and numbers they accept, but according to other reports we know the VA has a habit of hiding data. A friend of mine, Paul Sullivan of Veterans for Common Sense, was part of the law suit against the VA seeking the true data.

We know by 1978 there were 500,000 Vietnam veterans with PTSD. My husband was one of the ones they predicted would discover it later and be diagnosed within the following ten years from this report.

By 1986 there were 117,000 suicides of Vietnam veterans. Two later studies had the figures as high as 200,000. Over 300,000 Vietnam veterans ended up homeless. Many still live in the woods all over the country.

With all of what we know, including homeless veterans, incarcerated veterans, the divorce rate, there is much that is not known and that is the truly frightening part.

When they leave the military they no longer come under the Department of Defense. Until they enter into the VA system, they are not tracked by them either. We don’t know how many committed suicide after combat but before the VA. PTSD has been linked to heart problems, but we don’t know how many died from service related heart attacks.




The general rate of PTSD after traumatic events is one out of three. There is another rule of thought putting it at one out of five. With almost 2 million serving between Iraq and Afghanistan, these numbers are still not a true reflection simply because redeployments, or what the civilian world would call re-exposures, increases the risk of PTSD by 50%. What we are about to see is one million veterans with PTSD just from Iraq and Afghanistan alone. Then you can add in the Vietnam veterans finally understanding what’s been wrong with them all along.

This is why I do what I do. Someone has to be on the front lines with the knowledge they and their families need, but someone who has walked in their shoes as well. I got into this in 1982 and have not stopped. I have a self published book online about my marriage to my own Vietnam vet. I have videos to explain to people what PTSD is and what the signs are, as well as offer support and hope that they can survive with PTSD and live lives instead of just existing in them. There are now over 25 videos.

The psychologist and psychiatrists will only tell them what they have learned from books, not by living with them. Many of them are using my work all over the country and internationally. Yet even though they do, what they will not do is address the spiritual aspect of PTSD. I do. The clergy will reluctantly address the spiritual but not the clinical. I do. I don’t diagnose them. I help them understand so that by the time they feel they can go for help, they are already aware of what the psychologist or psychiatrists needs to know from them.

The other factor in working with them online is that they have nothing to gain by lying to me. They are provided with the anonymity they need and this allows them to be open. The law only requires me to report them if are a danger to themselves or others.

I do not play political games. My blog goes after any politician that does not help our veterans. If they use them and vote against them, I post it so that anyone can read their voting record. This nation has had too many secrets and in the end, the veterans are the ones who paid the price. It should matter they already paid it when they served in combat for our sake. Now go back to the BBC report at the top and notice, the 100 suicides this year are from the Army alone and do not include the other branches. If that doesn't wake the experts up, nothing will.