“…worn out with labor and sinking under the burdens of anxieties, (he) could not sustain his spirits, which shook within him with the apprehension of a new war and fresh encounters and dangers, the formidable character of which he knew by his own experience… he fell into despondency, nocturnal frights, and unquiet sleep… Above all things, fearing to lie awake, he gave himself to drinking deep and besotting himself…as a diversion to his thoughts. … (H)e ran into extravagant frenzy… throwing himself into such postures and motions of his body as he had formerly used when he was in battle, with frequent shouts and loud cries.”

Except for the author’s style, the above might have been written today about a soldier suffering from Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). It’s from Plutarch’s Lives, written in the 1st century AD; about one of the greatest professional soldiers in Roman history, Caius Marius.

A while ago a Marine told me that he’d been on patrol in Afghanistan on a Thursday and was in the US, in civilian clothes walking the streets of his home town on Monday morning, with all of the jarring incongruities that one might imagine running through his mind. His case isn’t uncommon. But what struck me was that I’d heard similar stories from a number of friends who were Veterans from Vietnam, in combat one week, home and in college the next.

It’s true the majority of Veterans (80-90%) don’t have PTSD. But the bizarre incongruities remain when you move from one such social and environmental extreme to another. That most can address them successfully almost seems a miracle, and we can accept it as a given only with great risk.

But 10 – 20% can’t, and the resultant suicide rates among vets is simply too high. It’s rarely of any real value to compare horrific statistics, but that the terrible murder of 17 students in a high school garnered not only national attention but generated a near frenzy of support in some circles, yet the death of 20 or more veterans at their own hands every day does not, surely says something about us as a nation, or at least it says something about the news media and how various issues are promoted or disregarded…

Since 2001 the US has lost almost 7,000 Soldiers, Sailors, Airmen and Marines in combat. That equals the number of Veterans who commit suicide every year. Since 2001 the number of Veterans who have committed suicide has cycled between roughly 6,500 and 8,000 per year; since 2001 approximately 105,000 Veterans have committed suicide; this equals the total number of US personnel killed in combat since 1945.

Since 1999 suicide rates for veterans have cycled between 35 and 39.9 per 100,000. Rates for men are higher than for women, but both are substantially higher than the general population, and rates for female veterans are more than twice that of females in the general population. Data can be confusing; one study suggests suicide rates for veterans of Afghanistan or Iraq have, since 2011, been higher than the rates of the veteran population as a whole.

Another study suggests suicide rates for Veterans of Iraq and Afghanistan through 2007 was lower than the rate for all Veterans. Clearly, we need better data.

The Veteran’s Administration has a number of efforts underway to attempt to address the problem, Congress passed legislation addressing the problem, and there are a number of private organizations that are working to find and help those who are struggling with PTSD. But there remain questions for which there are no answers.

Is there more we could do to identify those who are suffering and bring them assistance?

If the rate for veterans of Iraq or Afghanistan continue to remain higher than the overall rates, what does that tell us about the nature of the war and what should it suggest about how we fight wars in the future?

Is there something we could do that we aren’t; are there policies that should be changed, changing how we assign personnel into and out of combat zones, and how we care for those who show signs of PTSD?

It’s worth remembering that the nation was in a frenzy after the terrible events of the Parkland schools murders a month ago. That involved the deaths of 17 students. That many Veterans commit suicide every day of the year.

Maybe we need to take another hard look at this problem.

Copyright 2018 Arrias
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