HUFFINGTON
09.01-08.13
INVISIBLE CASUALTIES
might be significantly underestimated because they’re based on
incomplete data from 21 states,
not including Texas or California.
Even so, the data documents an
increase of nearly 11 percent between 2007 and 2010, the most
recent year of data in the study.
— The population of veterans
over 50 — more than two-thirds of
all veterans — is swelling with aging
baby boomers. Mostly men, they
are considered more at-risk of suicide because they tend to be socially isolated, struggle with physical or
mental deterioration, and possess
easy familiarity with firearms.
The suicide numbers are rising
despite a determined push by the
Pentagon and the VA to connect
troops to a proliferation of resources. These range from immediate crisis intervention, to specific therapy for post-traumatic
stress disorder and other forms of
trauma, to broader mental health
services, peer mentoring, resiliency training, and financial and
relationship counseling. VA specialists scour hundreds of places,
from NASCAR events to American
Indian reservations, for veterans
in need. There is such a drive to
provide resources that even the
Pentagon can’t say how many programs it has or what they cost.
Suicide numbers aside, there
are many reasons to anticipate
trouble. Vietnam veterans have
gone largely untreated for post-
Some 8,000 veterans
are thought to die by
suicide each year, a toll
of about 22 per day.
traumatic stress disorder, and
many have buried those emotional
wounds by drinking or overworking, said Tom Berger, executive
director of the Veterans Health
Council of Vietnam Veterans of
America. As these veterans age
into retirement, symptoms of anxiety and depression often emerge.
Mental stress within the military is already high. A new study
by the Armed Forces Health
Surveillance Center found that
mental disorders are the leading cause of hospitalizations for
active-duty forces. The rate at
which troops are being hospitalized for mental health illness, it
says, has risen 87 percent since
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