Lowering Suicide Risk in Returning Troops

Wounds of War

Editors

Wiederhold, B.K.

Publication date

# of pages

224

Cover

Hardcover

ISBN print

978-1-58603-889-2

ISBN online

978-1-60750-353-8

Description

Lowering Suicide Risk in Returning Troops: Wounds of War discusses the topic of increased suicide risk in service men and women around the world. Research has shown that those who have served in both combat missions and peacekeeping operations are at an increased risk for suicide. Research suggests that this may result from their ‘wounds of war’. Some wounds may be more ‘invisible’; such as depression, posttraumatic stress disorder, and chronic pain, while others are more visibly apparent; such as physical disabilities. Whatever the wound, however, it seems they may all lead to an increased risk of suicide. In this book, many aspects of military suicide and how to effectively deal with this issue are discussed. Specifically, some of the questions raised are: How do we detect those who are vulnerable to increased suicide risk, possibly due to a combination of genetics and past environmental insults? How do we most appropriately assess for increased risk? Once detected, how do we help to decrease that risk? Are there pre-deployment training methods we can employ to help ‘inoculate’ individuals against increased risk? Are there in-theater and post-deployment methods most appropriate for dealing with this risk?