Noteboom The Law Firm

Substance Abuse More Likely to Result in Violent Suicides

June 28, 2010 - Veterans and soldiers are committing suicide at unprecedented rates and levels. Military personnel suicides are on the rise. This is especially disturbing when compared against the amount of civilian suicides, which is at a steady level. Making matters worse is a new study's conclusions focusing on specific veteran issues and their methods of suicide.

The study found those veterans suffering from substance abuse were more likely to kill themselves violently, e.g., with a firearm, rather than with non-violent means, like a drug overdose. The study used over 5,000 Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) patients suffering from substance abuse issues. Although these veterans had access to what could be deadly substances, of those veterans taking their own lives, 70% of them did so violently.

Researchers discovered the veterans who did overdose in order to commit suicide also suffered from more brutal mental health issues. The veterans using violent means to take their own lives did not suffer from the more severe mental issues on the level of those using non-violent means. The two largest disorders these veterans suffered from were depression and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).

While violent suicide was more prevalent according to the study, it was discovered the predictors believed to be decent indicators of suicide were more linked to non-violent suicide than violent. This led to the hypothesis that there could very well be a large group of potential suicide victims that are going unrecognized if doctors aren't looking at substance abuse as an indicator of potentially suicide thoughts and actions.   

This study stresses the importance of highlighting suicide prevention techniques when handling people with substance abuse issues. Researchers indicated at least three ways substance abuse and suicide are linked. Care providers should make an effort to address the suicide prevention issue once the substance abuse problem is known.

If you are a veteran contemplating suicide, please know that there is help available. Contact 1-800-273-TALK (8255) and press 1 to contact the Veterans Suicide Prevention Hotline.