Suicide rate of female military veterans is called 'staggering'
Last edited Mon Jun 8, 2015, 06:41 PM - Edit history (1)
Source: LA Times
New government research shows that female military veterans commit suicide at nearly six times the rate of other women, a startling finding that experts say poses disturbing questions about the backgrounds and experiences of women who serve in the armed forces..
Their suicide rate is so high that it approaches that of male veterans, a finding that surprised researchers because men generally are far more likely than women to commit suicide.
"It's staggering," said Dr. Matthew Miller, an epidemiologist and suicide expert at Northeastern University who was not involved in the research. "We have to come to grips with why the rates are so obscenely high."
Read more: http://www.latimes.com/nation/la-na-female-veteran-suicide-20150608-story.html#page=1
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DashOneBravo
(2,679 posts)heaven05
(18,124 posts)combat zones? With the mysogynistic culture of the good old boys military, which still has not seriously addressed the problem(s) suffered by victims of rape and combat zone PTSD, something like this tragic situation was bound to arise.
Plucketeer
(12,882 posts)
d_legendary1
(2,586 posts)who were supposed to handle those problems and instead engaged in sexual harrasment and in some cases rape? Yeah that doesn't help the suicide rate either.
Beauregard
(376 posts)Then what caused the male suicides? Misanthropy? Patriarch-fatigue?
heaven05
(18,124 posts)rape is mysogyny. You didn't know that?
LanternWaste
(37,748 posts)Welcome back! 
Beauregard
(376 posts)Nice message, though! 
KamaAina
(78,249 posts)
adigal
(7,581 posts)We know they are going to have been exposed to more stress.
What I want to see is the rates of veteran women compared to veteran men, and also factor in where they served: support or front lines. That's why the researcher said we haven't come to grips with why the suicide rate is so high.
The most important difference between civilian and military in any circumstance is -- can't walk away. Whatever is happening, service personnel are stuck with. Even making a run for it, still on a permanent shit list.
Depending upon how bad the circumstance, the progression can go from angry to entrapment to fear to hopelessness. Even as a civilian the sense of betrayal by your own never entirely goes away.
Baitball Blogger
(52,350 posts)toxic, autocratic leaders. I'm sure that doesn't have any affect on anyone's personal development. Male or female.
RobinA
(10,478 posts)this isn't news. The suicide rate is high in the military. Men and women. The military has always been autocratic and it's not a secret. We have a volunteer force, so presumably people like me, who get a little insane when exposed to autocracy, wouldn't be caught dead in the military, unlike during a draft. So what's the deal? That's the question. As a mental health professional not associated with the military, I'm more concerned about the high suicide rate in general rather than splitting it by gender. That could come as an outgrowth of looking at the problem as a whole.
Well said ma'am
Baitball Blogger
(52,350 posts)I'm very concerned about the number of young people who are committing suicide. I believe they are a casualty of the pressures that society is throwing on us, making our lives and job security uncertain.
More importantly, as a society, relationships have become more calculated. People network to get ahead, not to enjoy friendships. We have stopped relating to one another in a purely selfless manner.
If this is hard for the non-military person, it must be unbearable for the military man and woman.
riderinthestorm
(23,272 posts)thanks for that.
While I won't speculate on the different reasons men and women vets commit suicide, I wonder if part of it is their assignment.
Men are assigned "combat" duty.
Women are assigned "support" duty.
So when they inevitably come under fire in combat situations (because they're the humvee driver - a support position, not combat), they're mentally unprepared for the stress.
So the inevitable trauma post-combat isn't dealt with appropriately (what else is new but with these "assigned" roles, it's doubley overlooked).
libodem
(19,288 posts)
Starry Messenger
(32,381 posts)harrose
(380 posts)... don't care about women, so why should they do anything to help them? In fact, they'd probably want all women out of the military, since they believe that women should be barefoot and pregnant. Wouldn't surprise me if they do everything they can to actually push women in service toward suicide (or out of the service).