Veteran Suicide: A Growing Tragedy - Research Paper

Introduction

A report published by the VA in the year 2016, which highlighted more than 55 million veterans that worked between 1979 and 2014 attested that over 20 veterans regularly commit suicide every day (Walker & Gray, 2017). It signifies that the degree at which the soldiers are taking their lives is quite high. Interestingly, the veterans who fought in Iraq or Afghanistan have weaker suicide rates than others. It confers that suicides among the veterans are more profound than the trauma of fighting because they are linked to genetically and environmental stressors (Patterson, Debaryshe, & Ramsey, 1989). The event of veteran suicide is indeed tragic. The number of veterans dying daily because of suicide is alarming. The suicides are more in men than in females because males tend to keep to themselves and do not share their afflictions as opposed to women. Therefore, the paper will cover veteran suicides as one of the antisocial behavior in the aspects of its statistics, causes, and prevention.

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Statistics Regarding Suicide Among Veteran

Walker and Gray (2017) showed that in the year 2012 alone, over 6,500 veterans committed suicide. Sadly, the number of veterans who died that year was more than the military personnel that died in Iraq. Veteran suicides do not only touch the veterans, but also active. Active soldiers are also committing suicide regularly. Moreover, in the year 2012 alone, over 177 active soldiers committed suicide. This antisocial behavior affects both sexes with both males and females ex-soldier experiencing fate (Raine, 2018). However, more male veterans commit suicide than females. According to the same report, 97% of the total veteran suicide cases were males while only 3% of the cases were females (Walker & Gray, 2017).

Arguably, women always endure lower risks of committing suicides compared to male veterans. It is because they can manage traumatic experiences better as compared to men. Moreover, males tend to conceal to themselves. Men always tend not sharing their adversaries with either their friends or close relatives. Therefore, it explains the reason behind more male veterans is committing suicides as opposed to their female counterparts (Patterson et al., 1989).

Walker and Gray (2017) in their article featured report conducted and released by the United States Department of Veterans Affairs in the year 2013 showed that a veteran commits suicide every 65 minutes. According to some people, the report was an undercounting the actual suicide incidences because they think that veterans perpetrate suicides more than the reported rates. Moreover, the article also revealed that about 30% of the 100,000 ex-soldier' population commit suicide every year as contrasted to the 14% of the civilians of the 100,000 people (Walker & Gray, 2017). Besides, the report also showed that the older veterans who are above 50 years of age perpetrate more suicide than the year veterans do. The statement purported that veterans of more than 50 years of age represent 69% of the suicide cases as opposed to 31% of the veterans who are below the age of 49 years. Consequently, age is a factor when it comes to the prevalence of suicides among veterans (Walker & Gray, 2017).

Causes of Suicide Among the Veterans

There are numerous causes of veteran suicides, but mental illnesses play a meaningful role. Moreover, veterans that were not deployed during their time of duty commits suicides more than those who were used. Besides, older veterans commit suicide more than younger veterans do (Raine, 2018). When it comes to veteran suicide prevention and management, initial apprehension is paramount. Moreover, the VA is taking numerous steps in guaranteeing that the cases of veteran suicide are at their lowest. One critical approach the VA is engaging is the management of the veteran mental health condition (Walker & Gray, 2017).

The leading causes of death among veterans include alcohol abuse, depression, manic depression, as well as a posttraumatic stress disorder. In utmost of the cases, the preponderance of the veteran who commit suicides are people with a background of drug abuse and addiction (Patterson et al., 1989). Among all the drugs, most of the veterans who commit suicides are alcoholics. Moreover, upon interrogating people close to the victims such as close friends and relatives, nearly all of them claimed that the victims were depressed just ere committing suicides. It proves that depression is another primary cause of deaths among veterans. Notably, depression is a silent killer and one of the primary purposes of suicides in general if not treated at the right time (Patterson et al., 1989).

A report contained in the journal of the American Medical Association blame the underlying mental health issues among the veterans as the leading cause of the high rates of veteran suicides. Examples of the mental illnesses associated with suicides include schizophrenia, bipolar, depression, anxiety disorders, among the rest are associated with increased risks of suicides. Besides, the VA reports on the veteran suicides indicated that the majority of the victims were the individuals with the prior record of mental illnesses (Patterson et al., 1989).

Furthermore, according to the research carried by the Canadian Mental Health Association, the victims of bipolar disorder depression have 15 times more risks of committing suicide. Additionally, the same report also acknowledged that people living with schizophrenia stand 40 times more chances of attempting suicides than healthy individuals. As for the anxiety disorder and posttraumatic stress disorder, the victims have 18 times more opportunities of committing suicide than healthy individuals. Therefore, there exists a close correlation between mental illnesses and veterans committing suicide. Moreover, 79% of the total veteran and active soldiery deaths were individuals with a history of mental illnesses. Consequently, it validates my assumption that veteran suicides and mental illnesses have a close association (Walker & Gray, 2017).

The same report also revealed that the public also suffers from similar underlying mental health issues, but the handling of mental illnesses by the military is different. The same report also purported that the army does not take the problems of mental health seriously. Most of the soldiers with mental health issues are continuously deployed in primary operations. Furthermore, the military does not undertake constant counseling and education on stress together with trauma management. Additionally, the military does not conduct continuous screening and diagnosis of their soldiers regarding mental health illnesses (Raine, 2018). Therefore, most of the cases of mental health illnesses are noticed when they have reached an advanced stage when their management is difficult. It explains why the facts of suicides are higher in veterans than in the general population. Therefore, it approves the assumption claiming that more veterans are committing suicides than the general population (Walker & Gray, 2017).

The same report also revealed that the duration of deployment also affects the rate of suicide rates among veterans. The shorter the deployment period, the higher the rate of suicide. Walker and Gray (2017) indicated that a report from the VA showed that 67% of the daily veterans' committing suicides represent individuals who were deployed for less than one year. Therefore, this finding reveals that the duration of the deployment is one of the factors that contribute to suicides among veterans (Patterson et al., 1989).

Arguably, the diminutive and the fewer instances of military deployments enhance the chances of the veterans developing post-traumatic stress disorder (Walker & Gray, 2017). Moreover, it explains why veterans who were deployed for a shorter period and fewer occasions tend to commit suicide more than those used for a more extended period several times. American Medical Association presumes that the effects of post-traumatic stress disorder are at their worst when the period of the traumatic experience is short and rapid (Raine, 2018). Moreover, the underlying mechanism through which all the causes as mentioned above of suicides among veterans is stressors that come from the brain and induces a gene that makes the veteran to get involved in psychopathic behaviors such as suicide (Walker & Gray, 2017).

Veteran Suicide Prevention and Management

The Department of Veterans Affairs thinks that every veteran associated suicide in tragic. According to the VA, it is the responsibility of everyone to prevent suicide among veterans. As a result, they have colluded with both the community as well as the federal government as a way of avoiding and managing deaths among the veterans (Brown & Elmore, 2017). VA is undertaking the following measures as a way of aggressively handling and managing the veteran suicides. The first measure is the expansion of the veteran crisis line. Through the crisis line, the veterans can access the mental health crisis support and intervention more efficiently and on a 24/7 basis (Walker & Gray, 2017).

The VA has hired highly trained responders with skills in suicide prevention and crisis management. The VA has also incorporated the texting option in the crisis line as a way of making communication more accessible and economical. A different approach that the VA has undertaken to prevent and manage veteran suicide is using predictive analytics as a way of identifying those at risk of committing suicide. Through this approach, the VA is actively carrying out screening together with the assessments as a way of identifying veterans at risk of committing suicide. Those identified as high risk of committing suicide are granted enhanced and individualized care plan. The VA is also extending elemental health services across the American states (Walker & Gray, 2017).

The move targets millions of veterans suffering from mental illnesses to prevent them from committing suicide. VA has identified mental illness has the leading cause of suicides among the veterans and are hell-bent on ensuring that they deal with it ones and for all (Walker & Gray, 2017). VA are also setting up veteran centers and readjustment counselors that are not only community based but also provide a full range of services related to social and psychological. Therefore, the VA is undertaking preventive and management of veteran suicide that is consistent with my hypothesis (Walker & Gray, 2017).

The different deterrent measure of decreasing the regularly increasing occurrences of veteran deaths is the government and distinct parties to engage in the management operations corresponding to post-traumatic stress disorder. Besides, efforts should be in place to early recognize veterans who are predisposed to commit suicide and help them evade committing antisocial behavior. Additionally, mental health professionals and centers should be established and accessible for veterans (Patterson et al., 1989).

Conclusion

The preeminent causes of veteran suicides as an antisocial behavior comprises alcohol abuse, depression, manic depression, together with posttraumatic stress disorder. Veterans tend to commit suicide more than the public because they are more exposed to traumatic exposures more than people are. Consequently, veterans stand higher probabilities of coming up with mental maladies such as posttraumatic disorder as compared to the general public. Besides, gender does play a role because male veterans are more likely to commit suicide as opposed to female veterans. One of the factors believed to cause deaths, in broad, is mental diseases. In considerations to the plight of veteran suicides, there is a close connection between mental heal...