The Los Angeles Times (1/15, Zarembo) reports that an analysis to appear in the February issue of the Annals of Epidemiology indicates that “recent veterans have committed suicide at a much higher rate than people who never served in the military.” The data indicated that “the rate was slightly higher among veterans who never deployed to Afghanistan or Iraq, suggesting that the causes extend beyond the trauma of war.” The analysis also found that “recent female veterans commit suicide at a rate more than twice as high as other women.”
Epidemiologist Michael Schoenbaum, PhD, of the National Institute of Mental Health, commented on the study’s findings, saying, “People’s natural instinct is to explain military suicide by the war-is-hell theory of the world.” He added, “But it’s more complicated.” Schoenbaum, an expert in military suicides, had no involvement with the study.
Related Links:
— “Detailed study confirms high suicide rate among recent veterans,” Alan Zerembo, Los Angeles Times, January 14, 2015.