thedrifter
02-17-08, 08:54 AM
Helping combat vets
By: North County Times Opinion staff
Our View: While no suicide crisis exists, it's still a problem
The rise in the number of suicides among veterans of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan should remind us of how much we ask of the young men and women we send to do the fighting. Those of us safe at home would have difficulty imagining the horrors of combat, or the stress it adds to the lives of those who experience it.
As reported in Wednesday's North County Times (tinyurl.com/29gx7p), the Marines reported an increase from nine suicides among combat veterans in 2006 to 18 last year. Total suicides in the Marine Corps rose from 24 to 33 during the same period, a figure in line with the much larger U.S. Army, which had a total of 121 suicides in 2007. With the Marines having roughly 190,000 active-duty troops compared with the Army's 530,000, it's clear that the problem is one that is consistent across the military.
And yet, despite the rising rate of suicides among combat veterans, the numbers appear to remain in line with the rate among the general population.
But the fact that there are any suicides should be sobering to us all. Every suicide is a tragedy, and every suicide leaves a family devastated.
As we reported last week, Marine officials said that most suicides among Marines involve the same stress factors found in civilian suicides: relationship problems, medical and legal difficulties.
Of course, being stationed in a combat zone where people you don't know are trying to kill you and you are seeing colleagues and friends wounded and killed can only add to the stress facing our combatants. If your marriage is already in difficulty, adding combat duty to the equation isn't going to help matters.
Military culture may have been slow to adopt psychotherapy as a necessary and prudent part of overall medical care at one point, but those days are past. While there will probably always be a bit of a macho attitude in any military community, it's clear that Marine leaders take mental health seriously and are committed to helping their troops find effective ways of dealing with the stress not only of combat but also of living.
Even one suicide among the Marines is one too many. Yet we are encouraged by the efforts the Marines and their counterparts in the other services are making toward combat veterans to try to prevent as many suicides as we can.
Ellie
By: North County Times Opinion staff
Our View: While no suicide crisis exists, it's still a problem
The rise in the number of suicides among veterans of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan should remind us of how much we ask of the young men and women we send to do the fighting. Those of us safe at home would have difficulty imagining the horrors of combat, or the stress it adds to the lives of those who experience it.
As reported in Wednesday's North County Times (tinyurl.com/29gx7p), the Marines reported an increase from nine suicides among combat veterans in 2006 to 18 last year. Total suicides in the Marine Corps rose from 24 to 33 during the same period, a figure in line with the much larger U.S. Army, which had a total of 121 suicides in 2007. With the Marines having roughly 190,000 active-duty troops compared with the Army's 530,000, it's clear that the problem is one that is consistent across the military.
And yet, despite the rising rate of suicides among combat veterans, the numbers appear to remain in line with the rate among the general population.
But the fact that there are any suicides should be sobering to us all. Every suicide is a tragedy, and every suicide leaves a family devastated.
As we reported last week, Marine officials said that most suicides among Marines involve the same stress factors found in civilian suicides: relationship problems, medical and legal difficulties.
Of course, being stationed in a combat zone where people you don't know are trying to kill you and you are seeing colleagues and friends wounded and killed can only add to the stress facing our combatants. If your marriage is already in difficulty, adding combat duty to the equation isn't going to help matters.
Military culture may have been slow to adopt psychotherapy as a necessary and prudent part of overall medical care at one point, but those days are past. While there will probably always be a bit of a macho attitude in any military community, it's clear that Marine leaders take mental health seriously and are committed to helping their troops find effective ways of dealing with the stress not only of combat but also of living.
Even one suicide among the Marines is one too many. Yet we are encouraged by the efforts the Marines and their counterparts in the other services are making toward combat veterans to try to prevent as many suicides as we can.
Ellie