Posted on 06/13/2015 7:04:39 PM PDT by QT3.14
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."
Though suicide has become a major issue for the military over the last decade, most research by the Pentagon and the Veterans Affairs Department has focused on men, who account for more than 90 percent of the nation's 22 million former troops. Little has been known about female veteran suicide.
(Excerpt) Read more at military.com ...
"22 Veterans a day are killing themselves"
..interestingly, not one poster that I noted said anything about homosexuality...
infact, there were lots of legitimate reasons why the suicide rate was higher...
no one said that these men should not have been "warriors"...
no one said that they suffer from injuries frequently or couldn't do the job..
but with the vimen, we get the "pelvic fractures"....
Post 12 did address the WHY.
Suicide is pretty much a male thing, veteran or not.
Females fake suicide for attention, men commit suicide, whether ex-military, or not.
Yep, true dat. And it’s tragic.
The point is only that male suicides may be similar so it may not be so “astonishing.” There are many variables, and one must be careful with analysis...
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/3296987/posts
Ya, I saw that too...
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“If 22 college professors were killing themselves every day, (instead of Veterans) the country would start a war on suicide.
If that were true it would likely raise the average IQ of the nation.
IMHO, regardless of sex, race, whatever, it’s clear that we need to do a better job supporting vets.
Yes, that was that point.
Good point.
It’s still not a good idea. Women and men are different, and as a vet, the idea of women in combat horrifies me.
My wife served for 12 years in the army. She was a dental assistant. I don’t have an issue with that.
I was a soldier, infantry. I do have a major problem with females in that role or other combat arms roles for a myriad of reasons
Active Duty ping.
Numbers and statistics. Obscenely high. Almost as high as the male suicides.
Why is it that all this can be categorized as either good or bad depending on the ‘victim’ or gender [a quickly-disappearing concept I’m told]? The numbers and statistics don’t lie they claim.
Women’s groups have steadfastly fought for equality in the military, and now they’ve gotten some of it, it is “obscene.”
I wonder if the military has also experienced a higher instance of HIV/AIDS since DADT was transitioned to “It’s okay to be Gay in the Military.” Anybody think that study will be on the wires any time soon?
My daughter and I were both in, I was non- combat and she was an MP. Women in support roles are irreplaceable. Hard working- goal reaching women. We both got out after a couple of terms. Her husband was KIA in Iraq. She is an amazing women raising their child. We are a practical, family oriented bunch.
Women should not be in direct combat. It’s a terrible idea. I do believe women have a big role in other areas of peace- keeping, just not lumped in with a bunch of guys.
I am curious what the suicide rate was before Billy Bob Clinton integrated women into basic training with men?
Yup. Deborah and Jael in the Bible kicked some major butt in wartime. Deborah mainly in a leadership role, and Jael got physical when it came to attacking.
I see Sarah Palin as a modern-day, Deborah-like warrior.
Less tours of duties in war zones would benefit both sexes in the Military. 2 Tours is enough.
Not sure about now but I suspect it’s no different, going into the military is a whole new world for young people. Alcohol and drug’s were available to all when I enlisted in 69 even worse in Vietnam. By the time I got out in 72 it was worse, and many a young person fell into it’s grip. Not sure illegal drug’s are as big of a problem now but alcohol in the military is an accepted norm. VA’s are useless when it comes to addiction in fact I’ll say they are the suspect, they hand out pill’s like they’re candy. A majority of the suicides I’ll blame directly on the VA and their practices. It’s been 7 months since a friend (another old Vet) and I started counseling Vet’s with drug and alcohol addictions. We started with 3 Vet’s and we now have 31, all coming from the same VA. 7 of these Vet’s are female! So far we’re holding at about a 30% success rate, while that sounds low it’s about 20-25 percent higher than the VA’s treatment. We’re in the process of purchasing an old nursing home and converting it into a treatment facility where we can have a more controlled environment for these Vet’s. 4 of our recovered Vet’s have signed on to help us with our efforts and one of those is a female.
I like to think that my military service has protected the country; however, serving under Obama could cause me to become very depressed.
I have posed this question many times in arguments: "If the military could only be comprised of one sex, would you choose an all female military?" End of discussion.
suicide rates of ALL military veterans ‘staggering’!!!
Well, I disagree. I was in a Support Battalion and I have the rank and the DD214 to prove it. :)
Thanks for your service.
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