A report released by the American Department of Veterans Affairs revealed that the suicide rate among young male veterans who served during the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan was more than double compared to the suicide rate among male civilians in the same age group. Although veterans diagnosed with depression are not more likely to commit suicide than other male civilians, there is a significant difference in the suicide rate for younger war veterans.

According to the VA, about 46 of 100,000 males between the ages of 18 and 29 utilizing VA services committed suicide in 2006, compared with about 27 the year before. For female veterans in the same age group, about 3 in 100,000 committed suicide in 2006, compared with about 8 per 100,000 in 2005.

The numbers showed an increase in suicide rates after September 11, 2001. 141 male veterans committed suicide between 2002 and 2005 compared with 113 in 2006. The Veterans Administration has said the rise in suicides can be connected to the increase in veterans coming from both wars since 2001.

There are 1,000 attempts of suicide by veterans under the care of the VA each and every month. They are coping with depression, family, marital and job problems on a high scale.

There are 25 million veterans in the United States, 1.6 million of whom served in Afghanistan and Iraq.

Representatives from the Department of Defense, the Center for Disease Control and Prevention and the National Institutes of Health have come up with recommendations to help reduce the number of suicides among veterans. The recommendations include improved efforts for the VA’s screening for suicide among veterans with depression or post-traumatic stress disorder, and also improved efforts to prescribe suitable medications for depression, PTSD and suicidal behaviour.