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MONTROSE, N.Y. The Montrose VA is known for specializing in mental illness, among the other VA hospitals nationwide. It is fitting then, that suicide prevention is a keystone of its mission to help veterans in the Hudson Valley.
Although Joe Amato, a psychologist and Suicide Prevention Coordinator at the Montrose VA, says that the holiday blues is really a myth, he does say that if you happen to be depressed and lonely, it tends to intensify these feelings.
Last year 34,000 people committed suicide, and about 27,000 of those who succeeded were men. The National Department for Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, part of the Department of Veterans Affairs, says on their website that Going through a trauma may increase a person's suicide risk. Studies also show that suicide risk is higher in persons with PTSD.
Between 7 and 8 percent of the population will develop PTSD in their lifetimes, and women are about twice as likely to develop this as men. Each year about 5.2 million adults will have PTSD, a small percentage of the estimated 50 percent which will experience a traumatic incident in their lifetimes.
According to Amato, utilization, or suicide attempts, rise during the later winter and early spring. Although he does not say that veterans face a greater risk of being suicidal, he did say certainly, people who have faced combat can be more vulnerable.
The National Institute of Mental Health reports that young and old can be disproportionately troubled by suicidal tendencies. Suicide was the third leading cause of death among 15 to 24-year-olds in 2007. Those over 65 are also disproportionately affected by suicide.
More than 90 percent of people who attempt suicide have depression, or another mental health disorder, or have a substance-abuse disorder, according to NIMH.
We want people to call when theyre having difficulties, not when theyre suicidal, says Amato. Anyone can call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline, 24 hours a day, every day at 1-800-273-TALK (8255). All calls are confidential. Veterans can press one to be immediately contacted to a responder.
Amato says signs that someone might be suicidal, or depressed, are statements like, I want to go away and never come back, or my family would be better off without me. He also said increasing alcohol or drug use, acting reckless or giving things away can be more obvious signs.
The holidays may increase feelings of loneliness, but Amato says suicide prevention awareness should take place all year long.
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