Vet Suicide on the Rise

Findings on mental health problems and suicide rates are being collected for returning active duty service members, National Guard and Reserves. Each of the groups is impressive in the extent to which they show resilience and an ability to bounce back from the stress of deployment, but each is also vulnerable to their own issues -- including mental health problems and to suicide. The best approach to effective therapy must be to evaluate each veteran as an individual and to identify the most appropriate treatment for that veteran at that point in time.

There is little data available about Iraq and Afghanistan war veterans who served in the National Guard and Reserves. What we do know is troubling.

Even though they performed the same jobs while on active duty in the war zones, these troops are different from the regular active duty because they were ordered to the war zones directly from their civilian jobs, often with little notice. When they return, they receive far fewer support services from the military and VA, thus making their transition to civilian life much more challenging.

Earlier this year, Veterans for Common Sense analyzed VA data we obtained using the Freedom of Information Act. We found there are significant differences when comparing National Guard and Reserve with regular active duty. According to VA, 41 percent of active duty veterans sought VA care, while only 39 percent of National Guard and Reserve veterans sought VA care.

VA reported that 45 percent of active duty veterans filed a VA disability claim, yet only 23 percent of National Guard and Reserve veterans filed a claim. Furthermore, VA records show only 4 percent of active duty veterans had their VA claim denied, yet nearly three times as many, or 11 percent, of National Guard and Reserve disability claims were rejected by VA.

At the request of VCS, Congress ordered VA to investigate these enormous discrepancies. VCS also urged Congress and VA to expand their successful "Benefits Delivery at Discharge" program, currently limited to only regular active duty, to include National Guard and Reserve service members returning home from the Iraq and Afghanistan wars. You can learn more by reading this article at our web site

We collect data on both active duty and reserve forces, both in theater and after they return home. In general, the rate of referrals for both medical and behavioral health issues is higher in the reserve forces, when collected three to six months after return. In selected units, who have been deployed for long periods of time or seen a lot of combat, the rate is much higher. However it is sometimes hard to do a side by side comparison between active duty and reserve, as reserve forces are usually older and often thus have more medical problems.