Suicide Epidemic Among Veterans

A CBS News Investigation Uncovers A Suicide Rate For Veterans Twice That Of Other Americans

(CBS)  They are the casualties of wars you don’t often hear about - soldiers who die of self-inflicted wounds. Little is known about the true scope of suicides among those who have served in the military.

But a five-month CBS News investigation discovered data that shows a startling rate of suicide, what some call a hidden epidemic, Chief Investigative Reporter Armen Keteyian reports exclusively.

“I just felt like this silent scream inside of me,” said Jessica Harrell, the sister of a soldier who took his own life.

"I opened up the door and there he was," recalled Mike Bowman, the father of an Army reservist.

"I saw the hose double looped around his neck,” said Kevin Lucey, another military father.

"He was gone,” said Mia Sagahon, whose soldier boyfriend committed suicide.

Keteyian spoke with the families of five former soldiers who each served in Iraq - only to die battling an enemy they could not conquer. Their loved ones are now speaking out in their names.

They survived the hell that's Iraq and then they come home only to lose their life.

Twenty-three-year-old Marine Reservist Jeff Lucey hanged himself with a garden hose in the cellar of this parents’ home - where his father, Kevin, found him.

"There's a crisis going on and people are just turning the other way,” Kevin Lucey said.

Kim and Mike Bowman’s son Tim was an Army reservist who patrolled one of the most dangerous places in Baghdad, known as Airport Road.

"His eyes when he came back were just dead. The light wasn't there anymore," Kim Bowman said.

Eight months later, on Thanksgiving Day, Tim shot himself. He was 23.

Diana Henderson’s son, Derek, served three tours of duty in Iraq. He died jumping off a bridge at 27.

"Going to that morgue and seeing my baby ... my life will never be the same," she said.

Beyond the individual loss, it turns out little information exists about how widespread suicides are among these who have served in the military. There have been some studies, but no one has ever counted the numbers nationwide.

"Nobody wants to tally it up in the form of a government total," Bowman said.

Why do the families think that is?

"Because they don't want the true numbers of casualties to really be known," Lucey said.

Sen. Patty Murray, D-Wash., is a member of the Veterans Affairs Committee.

"If you're just looking at the overall number of veterans themselves who've committed suicide, we have not been able to get the numbers,” Murray said.

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Watch the complete investigation.
Watch more of Keteyian’s conversations with the families.
FYI: Suicide Warning Signs and Getting Help.

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CBS News’ investigative unit wanted the numbers, so it submitted a Freedom of Information Act request to the Department of Defense asking for the numbers of suicides among all service members for the past 12 years.

Four months later, they sent CBS News a document, showing that between 1995 and 2007, there were almost 2,200 suicides. That’s 188 last year alone. But these numbers included only “active duty” soldiers.

CBS News went to the Department of Veterans Affairs, where Dr. Ira Katz is head of mental health.

"There is no epidemic in suicide in the VA, but suicide is a major problem," he said.

Why hasn't the VA done a national study seeking national data on how many veterans have committed suicide in this country?

"That research is ongoing,” he said.

So CBS News did an investigation - asking all 50 states for their suicide data, based on death records, for veterans and non-veterans, dating back to 1995. Forty-five states sent what turned out to be a mountain of information.

And what it revealed was stunning.

In 2005, for example, in just those 45 states, there were at least 6,256 suicides among those who served in the armed forces. That’s 120 each and every week, in just one year.

Dr. Steve Rathbun is the acting head of the Epidemiology and Biostatistics Department at the University of Georgia. CBS News asked him to run a detailed analysis of the raw numbers that we obtained from state authorities for 2004 and 2005.

It found that veterans were more than twice as likely to commit suicide in 2005 than non-vets. (Veterans committed suicide at the rate of between 18.7 to 20.8 per 100,000, compared to other Americans, who did so at the rate of 8.9 per 100,000.)

One age group stood out. Veterans aged 20 through 24, those who have served during the war on terror. They had the highest suicide rate among all veterans, estimated between two and four times higher than civilians the same age. (The suicide rate for non-veterans is 8.3 per 100,000, while the rate for veterans was found to be between 22.9 and 31.9 per 100,000.)

"Wow! Those are devastating," said Paul Sullivan, a former VA analyst who is now an advocate for veterans rights from the group Veterans For Common Sense.

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Eye to Eye: Watch more of Keteyian's interview with Sullivan.
Read the Investigative Unit's Data and Methodology behind this story.
Read part 2 of the investigative series.

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"Those numbers clearly show an epidemic of mental health problems," he said.

“We are determined to decrease veteran suicides," Dr. Katz said.

“One hundred and twenty a week. Is that a problem?” Keteyian asked.

“You bet it’s a problem,” he said.

Is it an epidemic?

“Suicide in America is an epidemic, and that includes veterans,” Katz said.

Sen. Murray said the numbers CBS News uncovered are significant: “These statistics tell me we've really failed people that served our country."

Do these numbers serve as a wake-up call for this country?

“If these numbers don't wake up this country, nothing will,” she said. “We each have a responsibility to the men and women who serve us aren't lost when they come home."

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An update: The chairman of the Senate Veterans' Affairs Committee, Sen. Daniel Akaka, D-Hawaii, responded to the CBS News story Tuesday.

“The report that the rate of suicide among veterans is double that of the general population is deeply troubling and simply unacceptable. I am especially concerned that so many young veterans appear to be taking their own lives. For too many veterans, returning home from battle does not bring an end to conflict. There is no question that action is needed."

[sweetgurl4dee]

My brother was at a wtu for an injury he sufferred to his knee while serving his second tour. They told him he'd be there approx. 3mths. Well 8mths and a bunch of bull later he chose to leave without permission and got a desertion charge(whole nother story) My brother was pushed so far over the edge he came home soooo angry, we barely know who he is anymore. We live in Indiana and he was kept at a wtu in Ga. Why so far away? Everytime I talked to him all he'd say was he just wanted to come home. My family and I believe hes sufferring from ptsd. He is a wounded warrior who now faces criminal charges because he wanted to just be home. Where was all the attention he needed??? Somebody please help us!!! We are so very worried about him. Thank you, Barb

[amother]

It is heart breaking to loose a son. We have lost two to simple things. Yet I still can not fathom the pain and anguish of a parents watching their children nobly chose to serve their country, knowing they could loose their life, then seeing so much terror and pain that they can not live with the internal invisible wounds. The "what ifs" must be overwhelming. My heart aches and my tears flow for you. I pray that we can somehow find the answers to help prevent this devastating loss to families and our nation.

[snipergj]

My heart goes out to Tim Bowman, his family and all the other families who have lost a soldier. I was in Iraq with Tim. We were in the same unit; although I didn't know him very well as we were not in the same platoon, but I know that he was a very funny person and a great soldier from what I did know of him. I miss him dearly.

It's been 4 years since we have been home and I still feel the same way I did the day that plane landed back in the U.S. and I don't know if it will ever go away, but I guess all we can do is try. I don't think the VA can help 100%, but they are getting somewhat better I think. Like I said though, I feel the same. I do appreciate the families efforts to make the VA system better for the soldiers. That is all for now........

God Bless Tim Bowman, The U.S. Armed Forces & F 202 ADA (D. 634th 33rd Infantry) Galva

[flynnm0469]

A missing point is that the transition back to civilian life is a key factor. In a society that is driven by greed instead of need, It is easy for a veteran to look around at his classmates that where in College when he was serving and thier fianacial reward for staying home. This adds to the depression that ends with Suicide.
Thank you,
Matthew J. Flynn

[wgriff3245]

For the most part the level of veteran''s suicides fall directly in the laps of the US military and the VA. For them to act like they don''t know what the rate is is totally preposterous. It is common knowledge that the US Army used Agent Orange throughout the entire area of Southeast Asia, especially in preparing the seven air bases in Thailand. Everyone who served on any of those bases was exposed to a large number of herbicides and pesticides. So they were dead, but the military never told us. Now that we are coming down with a series of illnesses that are directly related to exposure, the VA routinely turns us down for both compensation and health care. We are dying and the VA is well aware of what is going on.

[eclath]

These reports, these blog entries, all speak of war, soldiers, veterans, politics, demographics, statistics and predispositions. These words describe, but they are not the problem. The problem is not even depression, nor is it Mental Illness. The problem isn''t even our cold and distant response to those human beings, from all walks of life, who suffer from Mental Illness. Mental Illness, you know, is not understood; it is feared. As such is the modern day Leprosy, swept under the rug and talked about only briefly, and behind closed doors. Look around today and you will see people wearing arm bands championing one cause after another. But when did you last see scores of people wearing armbands and marching in the street crying out for funding of mental health care services and research? When did you last see a headline report about a cure for Mental Illness? Mental Illness is suicide. It is homelessness. It is drug abuse. It is domestic violence. It is fanaticism. It is terror. It transcends all borders, domestic and foreign. It is an epidemic, and we don''t know how to stop it; and that, truly, is the problem.

[krazykat2525]

us Post Offices only have to have a door 36" wide to accomodate wheelchairs;they don''t have to abide by disability act; yet more proof they are not taking care of vets even prior to going to war; Congress (not just Bush) voted for vets pay to decrease (while theirs of course increased); brand new housing complex built 4 illegals in So.Oregon; vets remain homeless & $400 a month pension & can''t get health care cuz Congress won''t fund it. I say impeach them all, refuse to reelect any one; limit time to 2 years for both senate & Congress; then maybe corporations won''t own Congress, and our country will fair much better.

[byroncanada]

Does anyone want to bet that most of these suicide victims were not placed on SSRI (Selective Seratonin Reuptake Inhibitors) medication while still in active service, as well as since returning home - Prozac like medications.
These lead to wilful self-destruction through uncontrollable anger - self murder, as opposed to depressive suicide. Not to mention the killing of family members in violent rages.

Its easier for the government to pay a pension rather than attend to the grevious mental scars caused by war - the supreme idiocy.

My profound sympathy to the families currently suffering and the wave after wave of future "victims" of SSRI medication.
Respectfully
73 year old veteran and SSRI survivor.

[bigtenconfer]

Suicide is tragic regardless of someone''s military status/history. And although I have been opposed to the war in Iraq from the start, I believe that any statistical analyses comparing suicide rates between Vets and non-Vets must be understood in terms of the research process. The comparisons do not result from a controlled experiment in which individuals are randomly assigned to the military vs. non-military conditions. Therefore, these comparisons cannot justify the conclusion that having served in the military causes depression and/or suicide. It is very possible that the types of individuals who choose to voluntarily enlist in the military overrepresent the percentage of the general population which is depressed. Not that everyone who enlists is troubled, lost, depressed, alienated, etc. But the military is an option that is pursued by many individuals who otherwise lack direction and purpose in their lives. The military experience may certainly exacerbate their problems, but it would be impossible from this research paradigm to say with certainty that the military experience alone is the cause of suicide. I am opposed to this war, but in favor of fair reporting ... especially when scientific data are used to support political agendas.

[krazykat2525]

i weep not 4 those who go & die, i weep 4 those who return. Your story justifies what i have been saying all along. Military bases closed, given to communities to use for low income housing. WHAT ABOUT THE VETS? After WW1& WW11 & Korean conflict military had places like Camp White in So. Ore. where vets taken care of; why not now? How about the Vietnam vets? i am glad so many are deserting. i say in large crowds that having worked with the homeless & seeing so many vets there that i would tell everyone not to ever fight for our country because of the way we treat our vets: cannon fodder & rubbish. SHAME ON AMERICA! vets health cares are tossed aside by posturing political figures who have no problem uniting when large companies pay both parties big bucks then the companies write their own ticket even outside of the law & it is permitted by our own government! (such as credit card companies). Again, i say, SHAME ON AMERICA.

[cathy253]

my husband He served in Viet Nam for two year (1967)but returned home a VERY changed man. For him, the war never ended. He fought it daily: he was depressed, had anger issues, was distrustful and suspicious and was a loner. He fought it at night. nightmares of the war plagued him almost every night. he dreaded going to sleep. God bless the soldier. "
My husband committed suicide in 2000. My son is in Iraq. First time 10 months, second time 2 yrs he should be coming home in Jan.

[j2hess]

ilewis22 raises a good issue, but he may be wrong in his conclusions. The analysis was done by an epidemiologist. Unless he is totally unqualified, he used age, ***, and race adjusted rates in his comparison.

The fact that it isn''t in the story more likely reflects that either the reporter doesn''t understand the importance of adjustment, or that he/she thought it over the head of the average audience member.

As a Marine veteran of Just Cause and the first Gulf war I need to say that even one suicide is one too many but the CBS story is very flawed. They compared to numbers that have no demographic relation. The military is over 80% male and approx 60 % white, and 74% in the 18 to 30 age range. If you compare suicide rates keeping the demographics consistent the difference in suicide rates is less than .3 percent.(They did not take age into account) Enough with the scare mongering. If this is the best the press can do we will never get to the real problems this country faces

As a Marine veteran of Just Cause and the first Gulf war I need to say that even one suicide is one too many but the CBS story is very flawed. They compared to numbers that have no demographic relation. The military is over 80% male and approx 60 % white, and 74% in the 18 to 30 age range. If you compare suicide rates keeping the demographics consistent the difference in suicide rates is less than .3 percent.(They did not take age into account) Enough with the scare mongering. If this is the best the press can do we will never get to the real problems this country faces

As a Marine veteran of Just Cause and the first Gulf war I need to say that even one suicide is one too many but the CBS story is very flawed. They compared to numbers that have no demographic relation. The military is over 80% male and approx 60 % white. If you compare suicide rates keeping the demographics consistent the difference in suicide rates is less than .3 percent. Enough with the scare mongering. If this is the best the press can do we will never get to the real problems this country faces

As a Marine veteran of Just Cause and the first Gulf war I need to say that even one suicide is one too many but the CBS story is very flawed. They compared to numbers that have no demographic relation. The military is over 80% male and approx 60 % white. If you compare suicide rates keeping the demographics consistent the difference in suicide rates is less than .3 percent. Enough with the scare mongering. If this is the best the press can do we will never get to the real problems this country faces

[betty2232]

I understand the VA is not happy with CBS'' news report and have made comments. From what I gather the VA is attempting to whitewash this report. They are good at doing this. I have been in the VA claims processing system for a claim since l983 and they undermine my claim before the VA by misstating the evidence - I mean by changing the wording to make it mean something else. I believe these people are trained to do this instead of to keep our promises to our veterans and their families "to care for those who borne the battle and his widow and orphans. (Abraham Lincoln)" long timed carved in stone.

I have proof this happens in black and white. We should never have to go thru the things the VA places on us when Congress intended this to be a claimaint friendly non adversarial claims processing system.
Our soldiers come back with problems and then still have to face the VA which is a problem within itself. This is not right!

When is the American People going to tell Congress to put a stop to this.

[ffra78]

it would be interest to offer them the chance to create association in qhich they d show to people what it means "partecipate in a war". this could be significant for people join there and also for them vet, because on this way they could send away their fear, psichic problem and ghosts in their mind.
it could be an idea?

[veteran356]

Regardless of the conflict, returning veterans face many challenges. They are trying to re-join a society that has become almost foreign to them. They no longer have the support structure of their buddies in service, which makes them feel cut off. Relationships like that outside the military are more rare, and take time to build.
No one is helping you. Those who did not volunteer are ahead of the veteran in education and their careers.
Our congress is bickering with itself, and with the President, and while the finger-pointing and accusations go on, no one is helping the veteran.
Being out on the street, trying to deal with the spiritual, physical and emotional damage of war... what do you expect to happen? And it is not new to Iraq. It happens in every war, even the "Cold" war.

And everyone should have known what WAR means from the start. Democratic or Republican, the Media, everyone.... It''s not a video game. It is REAL.

And we have started it now. Walking away will cause even more damage to our veterans. But we have a tremendous amount of work to do here at home, healing and helping these volunteers who have all sacrificed so much. Their lives are changed forever, in ways that non-veterans will ever understand. As a united country, we must take care of these brave men and women.

[ffra78]

This is the problems with war. The unintended causalities. I agree with veteran71 those that started this war don''''t have to see the horror, carnage, constant looking over you back, being in a constant state of alert.. etc., Bush lied sent our children to Iraq and he and the vice president should be held accountable for every soldier killed and those that come home maimed or kill themselves. I always imagine what this country could be like if we had not spent trillions of dollars in Iraq. So many people would not have died, we could send people to college, fix our roads and bridges, spark new buisnesses and get the economy fixed, pay off student loans for those of us that have them.. put america back to work for a decent wage. Eventually, all that money haliburton makes won''''t mean anything because the dollar will be so worthless it will mean only that it''''s a piece of paper with colors on it.

Posted by edgemont11 at 10:39 AM : Nov 15, 2007

yes and also i understood that many young boys and girls from our country''vebeen fooled by government, bush and his friends.. they don''t know its only opportunism and nothing else by bush&co.