Reframing Veteran Suicide: Part II
Through the eyes of a former officer, Dan’s story is almost a cliché; the struggles of separation, while universal, have disproportionate impacts on younger, enlisted soldiers. Perhaps this is due to the societal advantages bestowed by a college degree, higher earnings, and marketable leadership experience, all of which is inherent to the commissioned officer corps. On the other hand, Dan’s cohort—the youngest, least educated veterans—not only compose the majority of veterans that separate each year (about 140,000), it is also the group with the highest risk of suicide, substance abuse, homelessness, and unemployment.[1] For the small percentage of young veterans who secure a civilian job before separation, their challenges are just beginning. Few data points capture the totality of these problems like the recent and unprecedented decrease in life expectancy among working age males, driven primarily by “deaths of despair” related opioid addiction, social isolation, and chronic health problems.[2]
To address this reality, we now have the most robust veteran support network since the introduction of the Montgomery GI Bill in 1945.[3] The current “sea of goodwill” includes over 45,000 Veteran Service Organizations (VSOs), lobbyists, and billions of federal and charity dollars spent each year.[4] Collectively, they support a department-wide transition assistance package providing briefings, resume classes, budget checks, job fairs, and mandatory health assessments. Despite this support network, serious problems persists.
Perhaps failed transitions are a fait accompli; our all-volunteer force merely reflects society’s ills. One might also argue that despite our best efforts and purest intentions, the military’s mission isn’t rebalancing the socioeconomic scales. But if the military is just a mirror for society, then how do we account for the following disparities?
1. Veterans aged 18-34 are unemployed at significantly higher rates than non-veterans.[5]
2. Male veterans have lower labor force participation rates than their non-veteran peers.[6]
3. Male veterans aged 18-25 experience higher rates of substance abuse than their civilian counterparts.[7]
4. After controlling for age and sex, a veteran is 1.5 times more likely to commit suicide than their civilian peers, and the suicide rate among veterans 18-34 increased 76% from 2005-2017.[8]
These are the same veterans inculcated into a mission-first culture that emphasizes “we over me”, shared values, equal opportunity, and discipline. So how are veterans and service members like Dan simultaneously capable of extraordinary acts of courage in service of our highest ideals and self-sabotage? I contend that the apparent contradiction between what the military demands of service members and how veterans behave at their worst is not only plausible, it is inevitable.
Next week, I will explore why.
[1] Castro, C. A., & Kintzle, S. (2017). The State of the American Veteran: The San Francisco Veterans Study. Retrieved from http://cir.usc.edu/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/USC-CIR-SF-VET-2017_FINAL-Pgs.pdf
[2] Gawande, A. (n.d.). Why Americans Are Dying from Despair. Retrieved August 04, 2020, from https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2020/03/23/why-americans-are-dying-from-despair
[3]United States, Department of Veterans Affairs. (2018). The Military to Civilian Transition 2018: A Review of Historical, Current, and Future Trends.
[4] U.S. Veterans Organizations by the Numbers. (2015, November). Retrieved August 04, 2020, from https://learn.guidestar.org/hubfs/Docs/us-veterans-orgs-by-the-numbers.pdf
[5] The Military to Civilian Transition 2018: A Review of Historical, Current, and Future Trends.
[6] United states, Veterans Affairs (2010). Labor Force Participation of Veterans: 2000 to 2009. National Center for Veterans Analysis and Statistics.
[7] Teeters, J. B., Lancaster, C. L., Brown, D. G., & Back, S. E. (2017). Substance use disorders in military veterans: prevalence and treatment challenges. Substance abuse and rehabilitation, 8, 69–77. https://doi.org/10.2147/SAR.S116720
[8] United States, Department of Veterans Affairs, Office of Mental Health and Suicide Prevention. (2019). 2019 National Veteran Suicide Prevention Annual Report. Retrieved August 4, 2020, from https://www.mentalhealth.va.gov/docs/data-sheets/2019/2019_National_Veteran_Suicide_Prevention_Annual_Report_508.pdf
