The War At Home: Veterans Are Facing A Significant Rise In PTSD And Suicides

Author: Shannon Argueta November 9, 2013 3:59 pm

PTSD, suicides, and the military's response.

PTSD and suicide are two major issues among veterans returning home from our current conflicts and the military isn’t doing enough to help these soldiers. Photo from Wikipedia.

Veterans Day is almost upon us, and while it is most certainly a day to honor the brave man and women in our military there are many ways we can do that. I believe that one of the most helpful things we can do for the people who fought for this country is bring attention to issues that impact them. One of those issues that most adversely affects returning soldiers is PTSD or post traumatic stress disorder. Unfortunately, PTSD is not the only problem they face because with PTSD comes suicide. Suicide among our veterans is at an astonishing high and the government is not doing enough to prevent it.

What exactly is PTSD?

There are 2.3 million veterans from the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. When many of them came home (at least 20% by some accounts) they had a hard time moving forward with their lives. They began drinking, had anger issues, were unable to maintain relationships, and many other issues. All of those behaviors can be attributed to PTSD.

The Mayo Clinic categorizes PTSD as a mental health condition that is triggered by a terrifying event. So of course it is reasonable that our soldiers would suffer PTSD at a higher rate than civilians. What could possibly be more terrifying and traumatic than firefights, IED explosions, emotional trauma of watching your friends die or be severely injured and all of the other horrible things that comes with war?

Here a few quick facts about PTSD in relation to our current conflicts:

50% of soldiers with PTSD do not get treatment
Only half of those who do seek treatment are actually properly treated
PTSD rates are higher for our newest veterans than at any other time
Over 260,000 of them have been diagnosed with a traumatic brain injury (TBI)
7% of veterans suffer both PTSD and TBI
Suicide rates are up, averaging almost one per day

With more than 300,0o0 veterans suffering from PTSD, it is disturbing that only half of them are getting help. It is even more disturbing that only half of the ones getting help are receiving more than the minimum amount of help. This is the reason that suicide has become such an epidemic in the military.

Here is a sobering statistic: in 2012 more service members took their own lives than died in combat in Afghanistan.

That’s right, we have more soldiers dying at home, by their own hand than we do in the war at the moment. According to PBS, 349 service members took their own lives last year, as opposed to the 295 who lost their lives in Afghanistan. That is a staggering number.

Just how much has suicide the suicide rate risen and what is the government doing to stop it?

For the Army, suicides have increased by 54% from 2007 when there were 115. The increase in suicides have been blamed on many things, but the families of some victims say the branch has not done enough to shake the stigma that faces many soldiers with PTSD and other mental health issues.

In 2012, two lawmakers, Rep. Jim McDermott, D-Wash., and Rep. Leonard Boswell, D-Iowa, pushed for more anti-suicide funding for 2013. They also pressured the Pentagon to spend money that had been appropriated for suicide prevention on suicide prevention. Yes, they actually had to pressure them to do that.

“The Pentagon hasn’t spent the money that it has for suicide prevention for this year — and that money wasn’t nearly enough money to reach all the soldiers who need help. Now we are hearing about bureaucratic technicalities at the Pentagon that are preventing them from acting. This is unconscionable,” Rep. McDermott said. “The Pentagon is funded to help soldiers and needs to do much more on the epidemic of suicides.”

The Department of Defense has implemented anti-suicide prevention programs throughout the branches and hopes that they will curb the deaths. The military also installed a helpline for soldiers considering suicide: 1-800-273-TALK.

The Army has a program in place that they hope will take away the stigma associated with mental illnesses. The Army Suicide Prevention Program has an initiative the encourages soldiers to “Ask, Care, and Escort,” anyone who they fear may need help.

The program is not enough.

I personally know that although the military may be trying to erase the stigma attached to mental health problems, they are not doing enough. I am closely related to someone in the Army. He has been deployed three times for 36 months total in the last seven years. I constantly worry about his mental health and ask him if he’s okay.

We recently had a discussion when three soldiers on his base committed suicide in two weeks and I asked him about PTSD. He made a comment about them being ‘pussies’ because they couldn’t deal. So CLEARLY the mental health stigma is still very, very much an issue in the military.

Of course veterans and active duty members are not going to get help if they are going to be made to look weak. Military members are trained to be tough. That’s why they are screamed at in basic training; they have to be tough to deal with war. Although I understand why that is done, it has consequences and that is what were are seeing.

Maybe when potential soldiers go through basic training more of emphasis should be put on getting help if they need it. Preventative care so to speak. The problem now is that they are conditioned to be ‘tough guys’ and then when they need the help, they are ashamed. Just like with physical health, preventative care is key.

This mental health stigma is like a cancer that has spread through all branches of our military and as we all know cancer is really hard to fight once it has spread.

Preventative care is very much needed for the members entering the service now, but what about the ones who are out? With the wars coming to a close we have hundreds of thousands of military members at home and suffering in silence. That will probably be one of the legacies of these conflicts. I don’t have the answers; I’m not a trained professional and not certain what the military can do for these veterans.

So what can you do?

These soldiers are our brothers, sisters, friends, and family members and we have the power to help them. If you see someone you know withdrawing or acting differently, try to get them help. Veterans’ Affairs does offer help for PTSD. The soldier suffering just may not know where to go to receive that help and that’s where you can come in.

Also, here is a list of phone numbers for veterans having suicidal thoughts or depression: