Monday, May 9, 2011

Suicide Rate upon V.A. Care vs. Civilians


The biggest and most comprehensive study on veterans that sought treatment for depressive disorders in the government's health care system was carried out by the Department associated with Veterans Affairs as well as University of Michigan. The joint effort comprehensive records from more than 800,000 experts, including troops returning from Iraq and Afghanistan, revealed that veterans undergoing treatment for depression aren't any more likely to take their very own lives as compared with private patients.



The study produced 1,683 suicides in all, an interest rate of less than one-quarter of one percent - cheaper than some previous estimates. However, experts cautioned against using the findings too widely, because most former servicemen and women with mental health problems do not look for treatment in the Veterans Affairs system.



Contrary to most studies associated with non-veterans, the risk of suicide generally goes up with age, the greatest rate among those ages 18 to 44, but dropped regarding 20 percent for those age range 45 to Sixty four, and then rose again after that.



Paradoxically, the research suggested that those who had symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) as well as depression were at significantly lower risk of committing suicide than those without stress symptoms. Veterans being treated for both conditions were 20% less likely in order to commit suicide than those who were treated with regard to depression alone. People suffering from two the weather is usually considered to be from higher risk for harm than those with one.



According to the Dr. Marcia Valenstein, senior author of the group from the University of Michigan, "It may be that those being treated for PTSD have more access to services, more psychotherapy visits, just more psychological health services generally."



In addition to that, Doctor. Valenstein said that the veterans being treated for post-traumatic tension disorder were much more likely than the others to receive earnings supplements from the federal government to cover the impairment, which could also help account for the difference.



The Veterans Affairs and Defense Departments have been investigating suicide risk closely since a study of combat soldiers in 2003 found high rates of suicide. In another current study, Oregon scientists found that veterans were about twice as likely to kill themselves as were people who had not served in the army.



The American Journal of Public Wellness published the new evaluation online which concentrated only on individuals veterans who sought treatment for depression in the government's health care system and suggested that they might be different in certain ways from others in treatment.



Mark Kaplan, a professor of community health from Portland State College in Oregon said that the s an important study and provides a lot to what we learn about this population.Inch



In this new study, the team evaluated information for 807,694 veterans receiving treatment in the V.The. system from April 1999 to Sept 2004, which included men and women who had offered in Vietnam, the Persian Gulf war, Iraq and Afghanistan. However, the researchers did not do separate analysis for each.



Furthermore, the study did not assess the methods used in the actual suicides. In the Oregon research led by a community health practitioner named Dr. Mark Kaplan was released last summer. His study indicated that more than 80% of veterans' suicides were found to have been committed with a gun when compared with 55% among non-veterans.



Article Source: articlemotron . org


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