Suicide the ‘most important issue’ for Iraq and Afghanistan veterans, survey says


By SB Anderson

A new survey from a veterans group found 30% of those veterans surveyed have considered suicide; 45% know an Iraq or Afghanistan veteran who has attempted suicide and 63% have veteran friends “who they feel need care for a mental health injury.”

The 4,104 veterans who responded to the annual Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans Association membership survey said suicide, in fact, was the most important issue they face. Some 37% know a veteran who has committed suicide and of those who know someone, 60% know more than one. (See the full report embedded below).

“The 2013 survey highlights some alarming downward trends in veteran care,” an IAVA release on the study said.

The Veterans Administration estimates about 22 veterans kill themselves each day. Of those, about 2 in 3 are older than 50. Only 12% of those who responded to the survey were 50 or older, which is not surprising given the recency of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.

A few other findings.

  • 40% of respondents have a claim pending with the VA. Of those, 45% have been waiting longer than a year. The VA is trying to tackle an enormous backlog of disability claims but does not expect appreciable improvement until 2015.
  • 31% said they had served with an openly gay service member; just over half support extending Department of Defense benefits to same-sex partners.
  • Congress and the President get poor grades for listening to veteran’s issues and the VA itself gets mixed grades.
  • The IAVA calculates the umemplyment rate among those who responded at 16%. Nearly half have haven’t worked for a year or more; a quarter are unable to find any work.
  • Among women, nearly two-thirds had a neutral or negative opinion about health care and treatment from the VA.

The survey was conducted from Feb. 2 to Feb. 17. It included responses from 4,104 Iraq and Afghanistan veteran. Of those, 3,274 are confirmed veterans who submitted proof of wartime service. The findings are not believed to reflect the veteran population as a whole. Sixty percent served in Iraq; 16% in Afghanistan and 23% in both.