PTSD Combat and Suicide: The Price of Battle

Phillip Leveque has spent his life as a Combat Infantryman, Physician, Toxicologist and Pharmacologist.

A U.S. frontline combat soldier in Afghanistan, sometimes the life of a veteran can by turned upside down by PTSD. Image by Tim King

(MOLALLA, Ore.) - Vets news, the Oregon Department of Veterans affairs (ODVA) just published its January/February newspaper. I was not comforted by reading their article underlined, Combat, Suicide Related which lays out in grim detail disturbing facts.

The first fact was that suicide is the 11th most frequent cause of death and the rate among returning battle veterans is twice that of the general population. We know that battle veterans and those in battle zones represent only about ten percent of the population. The facts are tragic and staggering. We are losing our best and brightest.

The Oregon Department of Human Services, ODHS, reports that suicides are the leading cause of violent death and veterans though low in numbers, represent 28% of total suicides.

The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs reported 800,000 depressed veterans from 1999 to 2004 and that 100,000 veterans are seeking mental health care and 52,000 have PTSD. Most of these are under 40 which means ONLY lower ranking soldiers etc., are affected. This should surprise no one- privates and low ranking sergeants do the killing, wounding and dying.

President Bush ordered the VA to provide increased services in 2007.

I have written before in several PTSD articles that the VA has not and can not provide adequate services to even a small fraction of PTSD veterans.

The Oregon National Guard has developed the Northwest Human Services Suicide Prevention Hotline at 800 560-5535 in response to the abject failure of the U.S. VA treatment programs.

As I have said before and will keep on saying, somebody's got to "get the lead out" and start facing this problem. If a combat veteran is in more peril back home than in the front lines, somebody should do something.

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Email him: Newsroom@Salem-News.com

More information on the history of Leveque can be found in his book, General Patton's Dogface Soldier of Phil Leveque about his experiences in WWII.
Order the book by mail by following this link: Dogface Soldier.
If you are a World War II history buff, you don't want to miss it.

Watch for more streaming video question and answer segments about medical marijuana with Bonnie King Dr. Phil Leveque.

Click on this link for other articles and video segments about PTSD and medical marijuana on Salem-News.com: Dr. Leveque INTERVIEWS & ARTICLES

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Matt Johnson January 21, 2008 10:23 pm (Pacific time)

I couldn't agree more strongly Jefferson, this problem is epidemic and I think most Americans really care, but out of sight and out of mind is a problem, so speaking up is the right thing to do.

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Jefferson January 21, 2008 5:56 pm (Pacific time)

This is an extremely urgent problem that needs to be addressed poste haste. I get so sick of these politicans who do all this talking about getting more VA funding, especially during an election cycle, but then fail to deliver. Those of us associated with Vietnam Veterans of America, Disabled American Veterans, the VFW, Paralyzed Veterans, Vietnam Veterans of Oregon, the American Legion, etc. , have been lobbying on a national level for decades for more financial resources, especially for PTSD treatment. We will never give up on our veterans, and hopefully these veterans who need our help will not become political pawns for snollygosters who simply use these very special people for an agenda that has nothing to do with helping them.

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