David While and Navneet Kapur
University of Manchester, Manchester, United Kingdom
War and Suicide. Hauppauge, New York: Nova Science Publishers, 2009, 306 pages.

National suicide rates are used as an indicator of health and the reduction of suicide rates is therefore seen by many countries as a public health priority. Risk factors for general population suicides have been investigated internationally. This chapter provides an overview of the international literature on suicide in veterans and those who have left the Armed Forces. After an initial discussion of terminology, studies are discussed according to geographical location and theatre of conflict. Findings from studies have been inconsistent. Although some studies have suggested increased suicide risk in selected groups, there is little firm evidence that the suicide risk of veterans overall is greater than that of the general population. We end by discussing approaches to suicide prevention in this group and suggesting possible avenues for future research.