Sandeep Grover
Postgraduate Institute of Medical Education and Research, Chandigarh, India
War and Suicide. Hauppauge, New York: Nova Science Publishers, 2009, 306 pages.

Suicide in war veterans has being a focus of researchers, administration and media since the time of Vietnam War. Over the years there has been some research in this area. However till now there is no consensus as to whether suicide rates are higher in war veterans compared to general population. However, studies have shown that veterans have many known risk factors for suicide as found in general population. In addition there is evidence to suggest that some of the risk factors like experience of combat, presence of combat guilt, severe physical trauma and higher prevalence of mental illnesses like depression and PTSD make this population more vulnerable to suicide. There is urgent need to develop suicide prevention programmes specifically for veterans.