Abel Koshy
West London Mental Health NHS Trust, London, United Kingdom
War and Suicide. Hauppauge, New York: Nova Science Publishers, 2009, 306 pages.

The psychiatric problems of combat returnees are a topical and important issue given the ongoing conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan. There is increasing global recognition both within the military and society in general of combat related psychological dysfunction, including (but not limited to) post-traumatic stress disorder, in veterans, particularly in recent years. Whilst recent years have witnessed increasing interest and focused research into various aspects of combat related psychiatric and psychological morbidity both amongst service personnel and the civilian population, data on the specific correlates of suicidal behavior amongst servicemen who have survived major physical trauma (distinct from traumatic brain injury, which is covered in chapter 11) with resulting disability and/or disfigurement is limited. Changing conditions in the nature and characteristics of warfare and the increasing potency and destructive capabilities of both conventional and newer military hardware have raised the proportion of some types of wounds, and increased the incidence of multiple injuries. Improved methods of evacuation and advances in medical science have resulted in the survival of many service personnel who previously would have succumbed to their injuries. (1) This chapter would endeavor to outline some key issues pertinent to this area, with the hope that further interest and impetus for more specific research into this relatively under researched aspect of combat related morbidity would be generated.