PTSD violence reported in national media "tip of the iceberg"

I find this headline troubling since the rest of the article is really good. It points out that multiple deployments and the use of National Guards has made living with combat afterwards is worse than other wars.

Muskegon County's David Eling:
PTSD violence reported in national media is just the tip of the iceberg
By Stephen Kloosterman
February 14, 2013

MUSKEGON, MI – Men who died violent deaths linked to post-traumatic stress disorder, or PTSD, have captured national media's attention in recent weeks.

But the leader of a local agency that helps veterans says it's just the tip of the iceberg of PTSD-related deaths.

A prolific U.S. sniper, Chris Kyle, and his friend were shot to death in Texas less than two weeks ago. Kyle himself suffered from PTSD, and tried to help others with the condition. The man charged in his death – another veteran – was among the group of people he was trying to help.

"In a live chat on MLive.com Wednesday, David Eling, director of the Muskegon County Department of Veterans Affairs and the West Michigan Veterans Service Center, said it's just a small part of an epidemic."

It also pointed out this.

Iraq and Afghanistan, almost 7,000 died in action and we have exceed(ed) more than 7,000 (who) have killed themselves since coming home.

This is the part that left me shaking my head. We lose more than that every year to suicides of survivors of combat. Most of them are veterans with recent research putting their numbers at almost one an hour and almost 500 servicemen and women committed suicide last year alone.

They are more likely to commit suicide than harm anyone else but the media has avoided mentioning that fact. Violent acts get more attention than sad ones someone can actually do something about.