Michigan News
(2007-10-31)
null
A new study finds young military veterans have a higher suicide risk than previously thought.
The study looked at the suicide rate among 800 thousand military veterans undergoing counseling for depression between 1999 and 2004.
Marcia Valenstein is a research scientist with the Department of Veterans Affairs and an associate professor at the University of Michigan.
She says vets under the age 44 were more likely to commit suicide than vets over 45, just the opposite of the civilian population.
"Once people are in the mental health system, primary care doctors and mental health specialists and clinicians, people in vet centers and so forth, need to realize our risk factors for veterans may be different from those in the general population," says Valenstein.
Valenstein says veterans suffering post-traumatic stress along with depression were less likely to commit suicide.
She suggests those vets were more likely to be receiving care, thus giving doctors more chances to intervene before a suicide attempt.
The study appears in the American Journal of Public Health.
-----------------------
American Journal of Public Health www.ajph.org © Copyright 2010, Michigan Radio
