Suicide rate of female veterans is 250% that of civilian women. Perhaps much of the gender suicide gap is due to men's responsibilities, and as women take more of them on their suicide rate will increase...

Ted8367 · 2017-09-19T02:20:13+00:00

Veterans are about 20 percent more likely than nonveterans to kill themselves, according to a Veterans Affairs press release issued on Friday afternoon at the close of business. (Traditionally, that’s when Washington public affairs types put out bad news they don’t wish to discuss. Mainly they hope to see it tucked into Saturday newspapers that no one reads.)

The actual report was well buried. It's worth a read (PDF).

https://www.mentalhealth.va.gov/docs/data-sheets/VA-Suicide-Data-Report.pdf

ParadoxClock · 2017-09-19T02:26:41+00:00

Most people commit suicide due to mental illness, around 90% of people that commit suicide have a diagnosed mental illness. That is the underlying reason.

The gender suicide gap is not 100% figured out, but the main theories are women have better support networks to deal with mental issues and/or there might be something different between how men and women's brains function.

Army personnel are at an increased risk to develop certain conditions like PTSD anyway. They are not necessarily a good indicator for civilians. There are also other reasons why a woman in the army specifically would be at an increased risk, as others have already brought up.

Also you should define what you mean by responsibilities, since there are many interpretations to what that could mean. (Social responsibilities, work responsibilities, etc) Beyond that be careful when trying to make a hypothesis with causal relationships.

TigPlaze · 2017-09-19T17:06:02+00:00

I don't want to close the suicide gap by increasing the number of female suicides. That would be a failure. I want the gap to go away by decreasing male suicides. What I want to see happen is for every person, man or woman, who needs mental health treatment to get the help they need.

PardusXY · 2017-09-19T09:24:35+00:00

As women move into dangerous and physically demanding fields of work, I suspect the life expectancy gap will narrow.

It's the same old male disposability issue.

Rethgil · 2017-09-19T20:56:38+00:00

"No women don't attempt SUICIDE more often".

Thats right-They don't attempt "suicide" more often. They "call for help and get lost in their emotions and claim they are suicidal" for attention due to emotional upset. Then offensive feminist morons use false methods in studies and, rather than asking hospitals about wounds on admitted patients, or morgues for cause of death, they ask their own in group unbalanced feminist friends to self report if they've ever 'felt suicidal'. Then if they say yes, they've categorised THAT as the same life or death thing as men who have done it and ended their lives, with no warning to anyone, with no phone calls, not using "a couple of apsirin", but who have ACTUALLY stepped in front of a high speed train. Or done something utterly irreversible, incontrovertible, clear.

It makes my blood boil that the two totally unrelated and separate things are considered even SLIGHTLY the same, and is yet another example of over dramatic self obsessed feminist groups being unable to let the spotlight fall on men and a more serious issue for two seconds.

See also "I FEEL unsafe in the streets" versus men being at far higher risk of ACTUAL physical harm on the streets (as one issue gets all the media attention, government funding, and debate as the other gets ignored). More feelz versus realz.

If I seem pissed off, its because I am.

"If you're not angry, its because you haven't seen the truth".

juanml82 · 2017-09-19T01:31:03+00:00

Or, you know, maybe they are committing suicide because of PSTD?

Rethgil · 2017-09-19T20:09:51+00:00

Men have a harder time legally, in their work physically, medically with shorter lifespans, are at greater risk of violence in life, and are now crucified just for being male.

Point is this; In keeping with the point of the OP-men have much harder lives. Women lead lives of comparative privellege. No wonder far more men commit suicide than women. Far more stress faced in life.

g_squidman · 2017-09-19T08:01:40+00:00

I don't feel this explains why women attempt more often than men, not to my satisfaction. It's one of those statistics I find hard to talk about because of this paradox. Nobody seems to represent it honestly.

omegaphallic · 2017-09-19T19:15:33+00:00

Interesting insight.

BernieSandersgirl101 · 2018-01-01T01:20:22+00:00

Of course it is. Veteran Suicide rate is above the Citizen rate because of stress, lies of war (War for oil), disability, PTSD, and poverty.

Tedesche · 2017-09-19T01:44:11+00:00

Eh. Another possible explanation is that it's due to rape/sexual assault they suffer in the armed services. Probably a mix of things, but this shouldn't be discounted.

ee4m · 2017-09-19T08:02:27+00:00

Access to and knowing how to use guns might have something to do with it.

Tirerogue · 2017-09-19T16:00:03+00:00

Women attempt suicide more frequently than men, but fail at much higher rates because they don't use guns (which are by far the most reliable and don't allow you to change your mind.) These results would be easy to explain if women vets own guns at a higher rate than non-vet women.

Gun control is a men's issue.

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