Studies Show Veterans Twice as Likely to Commit Suicide

We've all heard the nightmarish stories of war veterans that return home completely different people, haunted by the things they did and saw. But war may have more of a psychological impact on soldiers than most realize, according to a recent study performed by the Portland State University in Oregon. New research has shown that war veterans are at least twice as likely to commit suicide when compared to those males that didn't go to war.

Dr. Mark Kaplan, professor of community health at Portland State University in Oregon and lead author of the study, says, "We need to be more alert to the problem of suicide as a major public health issue and we need to do better screening among individuals who have served in the military, probe for their mental health risk as well as gun availability."

For over 12 years, Kaplan and his crew of researchers have followed 104,000 war veterans who served in the military at any point during the years of 1914 and 1994. The group of researchers also followed 216,000 men who had never been in the military. During the years of 1986 to 1997, 197 veterans committed suicide, while 311 non-veterans committed suicide. After the researchers adjusted for age, time in service, and health status, the data showed that those who served in the military were 2.13 times more likely to commit suicide. The biggest risk factors were those who were white, those that had gone to college, and those that had mobility impairments.

But Dr. Kaplan still feels uneasy about his findings. He says, "I never feel comfortable claiming a causal relationship. Life is too complex." Nonetheless, he found that veterans were also much more likely to use guns to end their lives when compared to their non-veteran equivalents. Interestingly, the study found that being overweight particularly "protected" veterans from committing suicide by as much as 50%. But, other factors could be at play regarding weight. For instance, underweight people are more likely to smoke, and smokers are typically more depressed than non-smokers.