RNS: Vets and Depression, January 2009
TIME: 2:23
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U-M Health Minute: Today’s top health issues and medical research
Vets and depression: Returning from war to fight new battle
Most important time to intervene to prevent suicide occurs right after hospitalization, new U-M-Ann Arbor VA Healthcare study finds
Suggested Lead: Depression is a “very potent” risk factor for suicide among people receiving treatment for depression at the VA, with a suicide rate that is three times higher than that of the overall VA patient population. Here is Andi McDonnell with more.
When Lamont Christian returned from war, he often felt angry, afraid and unworthy. Years later, Christian found himself living in a homeless shelter, a sign that time had not healed his emotional wounds.
He went to the VA Ann Arbor Healthcare System for help, and there, he learned the root of his problems: he was suffering from depression, post-traumatic stress disorder and anger management problems. Now, he wants others to learn from his experience.
“If I had a message to give to veterans who are coming out of the military now or even veterans who have been out for a long period of time and never tried to receive help, nothing’s going to happen in your life unless you stand up and go and take the step to get help. That is the most important thing that I believe I’ve done.”
Christian is a veteran of Vietnam, but his experience holds true for soldiers returning from current battlegrounds as well.
Nearly a third of veterans who are treated at Veterans Affairs health care centers have significant depressive symptoms, and about 13 percent have clinically diagnosed depression. Dr. Marcia Valenstein, (M.D.), clinical psychiatrist with the VA Ann Arbor Healthcare System and associate professor of psychiatry with the University of Michigan Health System tell us . . .
“Depression is a very potent risk factor for suicide and among people who are receiving treatment for depression in the VA. The rates are about 3 times higher than those of the general VA user population.”
Such high rates led Valenstein and her colleagues to study the best time to provide intensive interventions to veterans with depression to prevent suicide. In a study just published by the Journal of Affective Disorders, the researchers found that veterans with depression were at highest risk for suicide in the 12 weeks after they were hospitalized for psychiatric conditions.
Valenstein explaines. . .
“When you think about your more intensive interventions, you really want to target the highest risk people and our study really shows that efforts that are intensive and tailored should really be directed first at people emerging from inpatient units. Right now, we have very few guidelines for how closely those people should be followed and I think more attention needs to be directed at the transition programs we might have then or at other efforts to be in contact with people during this vulnerable period.”
Andi McDonnell, U-M Health system News
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