Veterans and Post War Suicide May Be Linked to Brain Disease

As many soldiers return as heros from the battlefields of Iraq and Afghanistan, a troubling and saddening phenomenon is occurring. According to a study authored by Dr. Margaret C. Harrell and Nancy Berglass and published through the Center for a New American Security have concluded that one U.S. veteran attempts suicide every 80 minutes. The report also reveals that 1,868 veterans made suicide attempts in 2009 alone. Much of what to make of these staggering numbers is understood through post-traumatic stress disorder (P.T.S.D.) along with the emotions of high unemployment and loss of military camaraderie.

It's not just returning veterans that are attempting suicide, it's also current service personnel. The study goes on to point out that between 2005 to 2010, approximately one service member would attempt suicide every 36 hours. Nearly as many American troops both at home and abroad have committed suicide in 2010 as were killed in combat while fighting in Afghanistan.  Many are citing a lack of mental health programs in the U.S. military system, both for current members of the military and as citizens when they come back home.

"The rates per 100,000 people of suicide among active duty personnel in the Army, Marines, Navy and Air Force. The statistics show an increase in suicide rates since 2001, compared with the relatively steady rate of suicide among the U.S. civilian population" - Source: NPR 

The trend seems to be on the rise over the past decade. In 2008, 197 Army suicides were accounted for, both of active and non-active-duty personell. In 2009, this number rose tragically to 245, and through May of 2010, had already been at 163.

To combat this rising trend, the Pentagon has been implementing new programs targeted at reducing these suicides and to better take care of the needs of military personel. Former military psychiatrist Stephen Zenakis, who is a retired brigadier general believes much more is needed to be done. "There's a whole culture change that would need to occur at the bases here in the United States before we really felt that effect. It may not really be for two to three years until we really recognize that" (NPR).

New evidence from an autopsy of a 27-year old former Marine who committed suicide recently may have shed an important new light on why suicide rates are so high. Doctors performing the autopsy discovered that his brain had been physically changed by a disease called chronic traumatic encephalopathy (C.T.E.), which is a degenerative condition known for affecting boxers, football players, and other athletes who participate in activities that involve repeated blows to the head. People with C.T.E. have an abnormal form of protein that accumulates and eventually destroys cells throughout the brain, including notably, the frontal and temporal lobes. These areas of the brain regulate impulse control, judgement, multitasking, memory, and emotions.

Following on this discovery, doctors performed autopsies on more than a dozen more veterans who committed suicide. They found the same results over and over. This begs the question as Nicholas Kristof writes in his Op-Ed column in the 4/26/12 New York Times, "could blasts from bombs or grenades have a catastrophic impact similar to those of repeated concussions in sports, and could the rash of suicides among young veterans be a result?"

As Kristof points out, because this condition is considered permanent and not able to be cured with therapy, do military families want to here this ominous news? As one military mother states in his article, it is at least a way to know why.

Let's hope that those returning from the battlefield get the proper care they deserve, and bring more attention to the affects of C.T.E. to find ways of reducing its impacts.


Sources:

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2057061/One-U-S-veteran-attempts-suicide-80-minutes-Hidden-tragedy-Afghanistan-Iraq-wars.html

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/04/26/opinion/kristof-veterans-and-brain-disease.html


http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=127860466

UPDATE: Tragically, former New England Patriots Linebacker Junior Seau was found dead this morning after an apparent suicide. It is speculated that Seau suffered from C.T.E. as did former Chicago Bears defensive back Dave Duerson, who also committed suicide on Feb. 17th.


http://www.boston.com/sports/blogs/thebuzz/2012/05/report_junior_s.html