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Jeff LPH 3 sends in this grim report from Military Times;<\/p>\n
The suicide rate among active-duty troops and veterans has outpaced the also-rising rate in the general population in recent years, but with so many risk factors inherent to military life, it\u2019s difficult to pin down why.<\/p>\n
There\u2019s no one reason for it, according to a study released Monday by the Costs of War Project, and the way the Defense Department and VA track suicides might mean even their growing numbers are incomplete.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe report notes that the increasing rates of suicide for both veterans and active duty personnel are outpacing those of the general population ? an alarming shift, as suicide rates among service members have historically been lower than suicide rates among the general population,\u201d according to a news release.<\/p>\n
Per researchers\u2019 estimates, 30,177 Global War on Terror veterans have died by suicide, compared to 7,057 who have died while deployed in support of the Global War on Terror.<\/p>\n
There are myriad stressors endemic not only to combat deployments, but also to military service, that may contribute to the rising suicide rate.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere are clear contributors to suicidal ideation like high exposure to trauma \u2014 mental, physical, moral, and sexual \u2014 stress and burnout, the influence of the military\u2019s hegemonic masculine culture, continued access to guns, and the difficulty of reintegrating into civilian life,\u201d according to the report. \u201cIn addition to these factors, it is imperative we also consider the impact of the military\u2019s reliance on guiding principles which overburden individual service members with moral responsibility, or blameworthiness for actions or consequences, over which they have little control.\u201d<\/p>\n
The report explores a wide variety of factors, some as straightforward as the trauma of combat, but also others, such as advancements in health care that have not only allowed more troops to survive injury, but allowed them to continue to deploy over and over, racking up more physical and mental trauma.<\/p>\n
\u201cFor example, since the post-9\/11 wars began, we have seen a tremendous rise of improvised explosive devices (IEDs) in warfare, significantly increasing the number of traumatic brain injuries (TBIs) and polytrauma cases among service members,\u201d according to the report. \u201cTBIs have affected as many as 20 percent of post-9\/11 service members, with many experiencing more than one during their career.\u201d<\/p>\n
Twenty years of combat operations might also be a factor.<\/p>\n
\u201cSimultaneously, the length of the war and advances in medical care have allowed service members to redeploy after severe physical trauma,\u201d according to the report. \u201cThese compounding traumas contribute to worsening suicide rates as service members deploy and redeploy after sustaining severe injuries.\u201d<\/p>\n
And even for those who haven\u2019t been injured, or even seen a firefight, the constant fear of IEDs is enough to seed post-traumatic stress that can be more and more of a problem down the line.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
Two decades of war couldn’t possibly be part of the problem, could it? All of the special ops-types who have broke bad over the last several years have an insane number of combat deployments under their belt. Even for those who haven’t deployed every year for the last 20 years, the frequent actual deployments, the threat of short notice deployments, and the constant training for deploying to the ongoing conflict take a toll.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"