Bipolar, substance abuse linked to suicide risk in vets

I have a huge problem with this report. If you look up symptoms of PTSD, a psychologist can find bipolar along with a lot of other mental illnesses including addiction itself when it very well could be self-medicating instead of addiction. It all depends on what they are looking for based on what they have studied. They need to be a trauma expert before they even think of diagnosing a PTSD-trauma survivor. Average citizens with no exposure to trauma have bipolar but there is only one way to get PTSD and is from a traumatic event.

Bipolar, substance abuse linked to suicide risk in vets

Bipolar disorder and substance abuse are the most common psychiatric disorders linked to suicide in veterans, according to a new study.

The study looked at the medical records of more than 7,000 vets who took their own lives, and found that male veterans with bipolar disorder were about 3-times more likely to commit suicide; while female bipolar vets had a sixfold increase.

"Approximately 25 percent of veterans are diagnosed with at least one psychiatric condition," said Mark Ilger, a psychologist at the VA Hospital in Ann Arbor, Michigan, and the lead study author. "We wanted to see who might be at the greatest risk of committing suicide."

Substance abuse, which includes both drug and alcohol use, correlated with a twofold increase in suicide risk for men, and a sixfold increase in women.

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http://pagingdrgupta.blogs.cnn.com/2010/11/01/bipolar-substance-abuse-linked-to-suicide-risk-in-soldiers/