EL PENTAGONO RECONOCE UNA EPIDEMIA DE SUICIDIOS ENTRE MUJERES MILITARES

ES QUE LA GUERRA VA EN CONTRA DE LA VIDA... from Army Times: Washington Study finds 'hidden epidemic' of female vet suicides By Kelly Kennedy kellykennedy@militarytimes.com Female veterans commit suicide at a rate three times higher than women who never served, accord­ing to a new study. "These findings suggest a hidden epidemic of suicide among young women with military service," the researchers wrote in their study. Dr. Mark Kaplan of Portland State University's School of Com­munity Health, a co-author of the study, said higher suicide rates among female vets "should be a call to action, especially for clini­cians and caregivers, to be aware of warning signs and helpful pre­vention resources, such as the Vet­erans Suicide Prevention Hotline." The study — the first general­population analysis of suicide risk among female veterans, according to the authors — looked at data on 5,948 female suicides committed from 2004 to 2007 in the 16 states that participate in the National Violent Death Reporting System. Researchers found that the gap in suicide rates between veteran and nonveteran women was largest among younger women. Female veterans 34 and younger committed suicide at a rate of 13.4 per 100,000, compared with about 4.4 per 100,000 among female nonveterans. The gap narrowed for the next­oldest group studied, ages 35 to 44, and narrowed again among 45­to 64-year-olds, said co-author Dr. Bentson McFarland, a professor of psychiatry at Oregon Health and Science University. But even within those groups, the rate for female veterans was higher than for their nonveteran counterparts, McFarland said. The difference in suicide rates among female veterans and non­veterans is also higher than in men; male veterans kill themselves at twice the rate of male nonveterans. The authors said suicide rates may be higher for female veterans because of military sexual trauma, exposure to combat or injuries such as traumatic brain injury. However, they lacked the data to draw any correlations between com­bat exposure, military sexual trauma and mental health diagnoses. The national Veterans Suicide Prevention Hotline number is 800-273-8255. □ WOMEN AND SUICIDE In all age groups, women who served in the military committed suicide at a higher rate than civilian women, with the difference being most pronounced among younger women: