Research Brief: Psychopathology, Iraq and Afghanistan Service, and Suicide Among Veterans Health Administration Patients

This brief is about the connections between being a OIF/OEF veteran who receives care from the VHA and suicide mortality. In policy and practice, mental health screenings for OIF/OEF veterans should be implemented in non-VHA healthcare settings and families of OIF/OEF veterans should encourage veterans to seek treatment if they exhibit signs of a mental health condition. The VHA should implement policies that promote its healthcare to veterans in order to decrease suicide risks among veterans and should also offer more mental health screenings for recently returned veterans. Suggestions for future research include looking at risks for suicide after traumatic experiences during OEF/OIF deployment, doing a study over time on OEF/OIF veterans\u27 mental health, studying mental health differences between deployed and non-deployed OEF/OIF veterans, and determining the effectiveness of VHA suicide prevention programs