How many of these suicides are war veterans?
Don't people from rural states have a disproportionate number of enlistees in to the military? And hasn't there been a huge increase in veteran suicides since the Iraq and Afghanistan wars?
Don't people from rural states have a disproportionate number of enlistees in to the military? And hasn't there been a huge increase in veteran suicides since the Iraq and Afghanistan wars?
The overall share of combat veterans within the population as a whole is much smaller than most people think. It's less than 1%. While the suicide rates are much higher than the general population, the total numbers are relatively insignificant.
In April 2005, the Chicago Tribune cited a statistic that
35 percent of those who died in Iraq and Afghanistan were
from small, rural towns, in contrast to 25 percent of the
population. This point runs counter to the picture, painted
by Rangel and others, of heavy enlistment reliance on poor,
black urban neighborhoods. Indeed, recruits are disproportionately
rural, not urban, and as rural concentration rises, so
does military enlistment. [1]
Maybe, but would they return there post military service? Given that urbanization is a thing, and that most military installations are in cities, I would think this would contribute more to the urban suicide rate.
This need to be home could be further strengthened by something like PTSD or other psychological trauma that might severely impair one's ability to take care of one's self, and the need for help from one's family, which is likely back home.