Gov Study: War Does Not Cause Soldiers to Commit Suicide

The Truth Behind The News

Susanne Posel
Occupy Corporatism
August 7, 2013

Researchers at the Naval Health Research Center (NHRC) have concluded a study that claims “deployments to war zones and exposure to combat were not major factors behind a significant increase in suicides among military personnel from 2001 to 2008.”

In fact, unknown forces, much like in the “civilian world” are at work when it comes to the rising suicide numbers in service men and women.
Factors such as mental illness, substance abuse, financial hardship and relational stress are pinned as the key factors – not the continuous deployment of active duty soldiers.

Data for this study was provided by the Department of Defense (DoD) Medical Mortality Registry (MMR) and the National Death Index (NDI).

Regardless of these individuals being sent on numerous tours of duty, many more than were regulated in the past, the study states: “The findings from this study are not consistent with the assumption that specific deployment-related characteristics, such as length of deployment, number of deployments, or combat experiences, are directly associated with increased suicide risk.”

Cynthia LeardMann, lead author of the study remarked: “The current study includes information from when we saw a sharp increase in suicides, between 2005 and 2008. So it’s demonstrating that, even in that period, we don’t see association with deployment.”

Men were found to be twice as likely to commit suicide as women; with depression and alcohol abuse doubling the risk.

So far, it has been shown that active duty military and veterans are committing suicide at a rate of 22 per day. According to prior research conducted by the DoD, 349 soldiers took their own lives in 2012.

Senator Pay Murray commented: “This data provides a fuller, more accurate, and sadly, an even more alarming picture of veteran suicide rates.”

Rates of suicide for service men and women never deployed to war remained consistent, claims the study.

Regardless of length of deployment or risk to personal safety, researchers stated that transition periods from active to veteran status is what causes suicide in soldiers.

Yet, overall, the study cannot say why suicide rates in active duty soldiers and veterans are increasing.

This study underplays purposefully the grave realities and psychological effects of war on the psyche of the soldiers in the claim that 12 years of active duty would not have an effect on a normal soldier that displays no prior tendencies toward mental illness.

There are also assertions that peace time has the same types of demands on soldiers as war time (with regard to travel, work load and responsibilities) which would negate the notion that war can cause some persons to commit suicide.

Critics of the study are noting that the study did not point out traumatic brain injury (TBI) as a cause for mental instability.

David Rudd, a psychologist and director of the National Center for Veterans Studies (NCVS) said: “It may be that severe, repeated combat exposure does play a role for a small subset of war fighters.”

Rudd suggests that screening for soldiers improves. As of now, soldiers are given surveys to conclude their reactions to combat, war time conditions, exposure to gore and death.

Testing may be used if the Armed Forces deem it necessary and beneficial to have a soldier reviewed for potential mental health issues.

Rudd continued: “We as a society have a hard time accepting that war presents a persistent problem of being (in) a high-stress environment. It is remarkable that the vast majority of people who go into these high-stress environments come back and do fine and move on with their lives. But for those who suffer from a mental disorder, these repeated high-stress situations and exposures to the intensity of combat cause psychological injuries. And while we can reduce suicide rates, there will always be vulnerable people, and I think we have a hard time accepting that.”

Charles Hoge, study co-author, blamed alcohol and depression as the sole cause for suicide among soldiers; while stating that post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) was a culprit.

Hoge went on to assert that those service men and women who are screened in the armed forces and shown to have a propensity toward mental illness are rejected from service.

He said: “There’s been a huge increase over the last several years in the number of mental health professionals working at military facilities.”

In another study conducted by the University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center (UOHSC), it was found that post-disasters conditions can cause mental issues to arise and this is cause for more research on how to best identify those potential individuals.

Adverse reactions to disasters can manifest as psychological distress in persons who may have propensities toward those types of reactions.

Symptoms can include:

• Related psychiatric disorders
• Bereavement
• Major depression
• Substance abuse

In fact, the study suggests that 40% of distressed persons can have pre-existing disorders that will intensify reactions to disasters.

More psychological intervention is necessary to prevent those individuals from potential harm.

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