Military service 'doubles suicide risk'
White, better educated veterans were the most likely to committ suicide
Also In The News
|
England under-21s opened their European Championship campaign with a 0-0 draw against the Czech Republic after  |
Tuesday, 12, Jun 2007 07:57
Men who have served in the military are twice as likely to kill themselves as men who have not seen combat, a new study has found.
US researchers claim their finding highlights the need for doctors to look out for signs of suicidal intentions in soldiers returning from service in Afghanistan and Iraq.
They studied 320,000 men aged over 18 years for 12 years and discovered that those who had served in the armed forces at some time between 1917 and 1994 were twice as likely to die from suicide compared with men in the general population.
Men who could not join in with home, work or leisure activities because of a health problem were the most likely to kill themselves.
Veterans who committed suicide were more likely to be older, white, better educated and less likely to have been married than other suicides.
"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 researchers write today in the Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health.
"Clinicians need to be alert for signs of suicidal intent among veterans, as well as their access to firearms."