First of all, when an 18 year old joins the military possibly the last thing on their minds would be, "Will I get PTSD and become dysfunctional?" So, when you are 18 you think you are immortal. By the time you are 25 or 30 if you are still alive it starts to dawn on you that you are mortal and might die because you may have witnessed friends dead or dying. But, if you are a military volunteer it may be too late to change your mind at that point. When you are young you might think, "Well. The worst that can happen is I might die." Actually, in reality that's not true. There are many many things worse than death. You just might not have thought of all of them yet. So, the figure of 30 percent is logical given the actual reasons of joining up, especially as enlisted men who are not commissioned or non-commissioned officers.
30 percent of Iraq, Afghanistan veterans have mulled suicide: survey
Nearly one third of Iraq and Afghanistan veterans have contemplated suicide, according to survey results released Wednesday, underscoring the dark depths of a mental-health crisis that has gripped the U.S. military and the American veteran community in recent years.In addition, 45 percent of the 4,000-plus survey respondents said they know of an Iraq or Afghanistan veteran who has attempted suicide, reports the group behind the poll, Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America (IAVA) — the largest advocacy organization for men and women who served in the wars, representing about younger 170,000 veterans. Some 2.2 million Americans have been deployed to those countries.
"That 30 percent have considered suicide is a high number. But what I look at from the survey is: We have 43 percent of the respondents saying that they are not seeking mental-health care because of a perceived negative impact to their career," said Jason Hansman, an Iraq veteran and now senior program manager for health at IAVA.
"Also, 80 percent of the respondents say they don't think the veterans are getting the care that they need. That speaks to the collective mental health of this community," Hansman added.
Two of the most common post-war themes haunting Iraq and Afghanistan veterans include the massive disability-benefits backlog within the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs — the entity designated to handle their health care — and the estimated 20 percent of those veterans who are struggling with symptoms of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder.
The Army, the branch with the largest portion of combat troops, reported July 18 that 134 soldiers — including active-duty members, reserves and those in the National Guard — had committed "potential" suicide through the end of May. (Some of those deaths remain under investigation and await official designation).
More stunning: The Army's suicide pace far outstrips the number of American troops killed in Afghanistan (52) through May: according to iCasualties.org, which tracks deaths in that war.
What's equally troubling to suicide-prevention experts is the high rate veterans who have mulled suicide while skipping treatment due to stigma, career fears or VA frustrations.
"That number (30 percent) is higher than we should ever tolerate," said Alan L. Berman, executive director of the American Association of Suicidology (AAS). The organization strives to better understand and prevent suicide.
"As a society, we have to be concerned and it demands a response that is geared toward doing all possible to prevent thoughts from turning into action," Berman said.
By contrast, 3.3 percent of the U.S. population over the age of 18 has considered suicide during the past 12 months, and 13.5 percent of American adults has weighed the option of killing themselves during their lifetime, according to two AAS studies that each involved about 5,000 participants. (Berman cautioned that comparing the suicide-ideation rate among veterans with that of the general population is tricky math given that most people who served in the recent wars tend to be under age 40 and suicide rates are higher among younger people).
The good news, however, is that those 30 percent of veterans who acknowledged contemplating suicide are still alive, Hansman said.
"Certainly, there's something stopping them from taking their life. That's due to education that organizations like IAVA are doing, and the education that the VA is doing to (promote) the veteran crisis hotline, where the number of calls has risen year-over-year and month-over-month," Hansman added.
Still, only 37 percent of the ex-service members polled said they would call the VA's veteran crisis line — 800-273-TALK (8255) — if they were feeling suicidal.
"They don't want to say they're suicidal to a government hotline. Now, we know how that hotline runs. We trust it completely (in terms of) keeping veteran information confidential, how it will not get back into their service record or hurt their career," Hansman said. "But there is still that anxiety around talking to the VA or talking to the DOD about your issues."
Inside the military, there's also an old stigma that seeking mental-health help is a sign of weakness — a sentiment both the VA and Pentagon are working to shatter.
"It's not overt. Your commander is not telling you: 'Don't go to mental health (services) because you're going to hurt your career.' It's just something that gets passed down (from other troops)," Hansman said. "Everyone carries around a horror story, whether it's true or not, about a guy or girl they know that sought mental health help and their career was over.
"It's entrenched in the military but it's something that can be changed," he added. "Stigma can be overcome. It's going to take a lot of work. But I think we, as a nation, should be up to the task."
end quote from:
http://usnews.nbcnews.com/_news/2013/07/31/19795613-30-percent-of-iraq-afghanistan-veterans-have-mulled-suicide-survey?lite
Also, thinking that seeking for mental health help means you are "not tough enough" is a common idea for military, police and firemen. For example, all young people doing these professions learn from each other how to play the system to stay employed because they want their families to be financially okay. However, the choice of doing this often kills many in these professions and sometimes members of their families. Because what is going on inside your mind does affect you on really deep levels if you have witnessed traumatic events or have been seriously injured. So, many times without the tools of psychological therapy there is no way back to a normal healthy life ever.
You might be able to "Appear" to be healthy but you all know what actually is going on inside when you wake up screaming in the night or have a bad flashback of previous events.
I personally did not serve in the military but I had a form of PTSD that came from childhood epilepsy. In my case it caused me to become an intuitive in order to survive "Blunt Trauma epilepsy".
So, I very much identify with soldiers especially who had had traumatic brain injuries. Because even though my skull grew and released the pressure on my brain by the time I was 15, still it kept me out of the draft and out of Viet Nam and the Viet Nam War. By age 30 I could see that my experiences were a blessing in the end and not a curse. However, until I was about 30 I saw my experiences as both a blessing and a curse from God. However, with time I saw that my experiences made me a better person and saw how God directed my life in many ways to help not only myself but many many others as well. Sometimes things that might seem like a curse now become a blessing later. So, you never know how things are going to turn out.
Take for example, Senator McCain in Congress. He spent 5 years in a North Viet Nam prison camp and survived it while watching many around him who were Americans starve and die in various ways. But he survived that to become the "Maverick" Senator who almost became President. In some ways I think if you asked him, I think he would say his experiences in the military helped make him the man he is today. So sometimes out of very bad things great good can come.
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