Suicides May Exceed Combat Deaths

[lame54]

http://thinkprogress.org/2008/05/05/suicides-among-iraq-and-afghanistan-war-vets-may-exceed-combat-deaths/

Suicides among Iraq and Afghanistan war vets may exceed combat deaths.»
Thomas Insel — director of the National Institute of Mental Health and the U.S. government’s top psychiatric researcher — said today that “the number of suicides among veterans of wars in Iraq and Afghanistan may exceed the combat death toll because of inadequate mental health care.” Bloomberg reports:

Insel echoed a Rand Corporation study published last month that found about 20 percent of returning U.S. soldiers have post-traumatic stress disorder or depression, and only half of them receive treatment. About 1.6 million U.S. troops have fought in the two wars since October 2001, the report said. About 4,560 soldiers had died in the conflicts as of today, the Defense Department reported on its Web site.

Based on those figures and established suicide rates for similar patients who commonly develop substance abuse and other complications of post-traumatic stress disorder, “it’s quite possible that the suicides and psychiatric mortality of this war could trump the combat deaths,” Insel said.

[The Magistrate]

1. Over A Period Of Forty Years Or So, Sir, This Could Prove Out The Case

At present there is nothing resembling such a proportion....

"More Wars! Less Jobs! McCain '08"

[old mark]

2. I am a Vietnam era Army vet...

...and a lot of my old vet friends die of cancer and heart disease, I believe caused or exacerbated by the stress of military service, especially service in a war area. I am not sure if there is a cause and efect here, but I see a LOT of deaths and serious health problems in vets in their 40's and above and I wonder about the real cause.

mark

[bdamomma]

3. it's so sad and really shameful what this government

is doing and has done to our Vets, and don't you think all those chemicals like Agent Orange and the same contributed to those health problems, now Depleted Uranium is having a toll on our troops and babies being born both in Iraq and Afghanistan. It's shameful. Thank you old mark.