Ex-military personnel twice likely to commit suicide than general public

Washington: Former military personnel are twice as likely to kill themselves as people who have not seen combat, according to a recent study in the July issue of Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health.

According to the results, doctors need to look out for signs of suicidal intentions in soldiers returning from service in Afghanistan and Iraq.

As part of the study, the researchers followed up 320,000 men aged over 18 years for 12 years who had served in the armed forces at some time between 1917 and 1994.

Findings revealed that veterans who could not participate fully in home, work or leisure activities because of a health problem were twice as likely to die from suicide compared to men in the general population.

Veterans who killed themselves were also more likely to be older, white, better educated and less likely to have never been married than other suicides, the researchers said.

Findings further revealed that veterans were 58 percent more likely to use a gun to kill themselves than other suicides.

On the other hand, former soldiers who were overweight were far less likely to kill themselves than those of normal weight.

However, a tour of duty in the military did not increase the risk of dying from natural or accidental causes, or of being a homicide victim, the research said.

“With the projected rise in functional impairments and psychiatric morbidity among veterans of the conflicts in Afghanistan and Iraq, clinical and community interventions that are directed towards these patients are needed,” the authors wrote in their study.

“Clinicians need to be alert for signs of suicidal intent among veterans, as well as their access to firearms,” the study added.

The research was funded with a grant from the US National Institute of Mental Health. (ANI)