September 30. 2019

A report has been released indicating U.S. veterans are committing suicide at an alarming rate. CNN stated, "Deaths by suicide in the US military continue to rise with 541 service members dying in 2018, according to a Pentagon report issued Thursday. Military leaders are continuing to express concern and frustration about the rising number of deaths as they attempt to understand why the numbers are increasing."

I am of the belief the suicides are due to undiagnosed PTSD (Post Traumatic Stress Disorder) which is creating depression. Many in the military have seen death up close in combat. When they return to life in America, their marriages and relationships are under strain, some can't find work and others are grappling with disability. Military action abroad is quite unpopular. This too is contributing to soldiers' depressed mental state.

Proper diagnostic tests need to be done by the VA. Psychological evaluations are needed of soldiers in the field and those who have returned to America. The tests can be conducted in different ways, even beginning at a basic level of requiring vets and active service people to complete a written set of questions, sent via mail, to ascertain their mental state.

Much like psychiatrists can question a patient in their office during session, they can also learn much about people's state of mind by giving them written questions to complete. It can be a starting point to giving them the help they need. Proper analysis of the problems and traumas in a person's life, with the goal of resolving them, can lift a person out of depression. Intensive therapy in talking people through their problems is beneficial. Getting to the root of the trauma and overcoming it can be done.

Another helpful way to address the suicide rate is to end the deadly military action abroad. Many soldiers are breaking down from what they saw and heard while in combat. Many have not recovered from the Iraq war, which former president George W. Bush and his vice president, Dick Cheney, owe America and Iraq a massive apology for initiating and waging. 6,000 U.S. soldiers and 1,000,000 Iraqi civilians died over the lie Bush and Cheney told. I don't know how those two sleep at night.

STORY SOURCE

Military suicides continue to rise

Updated 6:39 PM ET, Thu September 26, 2019 - Washington (CNN) Deaths by suicide in the US military continue to rise with 541 service members dying in 2018, according to a Pentagon report issued Thursday. Military leaders are continuing to express concern and frustration about the rising number of deaths as they attempt to understand why the numbers are increasing.

"I wish I could tell you we have an answer to prevent further, future suicides in the armed services. We don't. We are caught up in what some call a national epidemic of suicide among our youth. And not just our youth, but it's something we continue to wrestle with," Defense Secretary Mark Esper told reporters Wednesday.
There were 511 deaths by suicide in 2017, and there was a particular increase in 2018 among active duty service members...

https://www.cnn.com