Concord Monitor - Combat veterans need help to survive

Dr. Thomas Insel, the top psychiatric researcher at the National Institute for Mental Health, recently reported that more Iraq and Afghanistan veterans may die from suicide than from combat in the wars. Although mental health challenges among veterans have been well documented, Dr. Insel pointed out that these problems may be especially acute among Iraq and Afghanistan veterans due to extended deployments and decreased leave time. These additional pressures are taking a powerful toll.

As New Hampshire veterans, we are gravely concerned by the looming crisis of suicide among Iraq and Afghanistan veterans. We are further disturbed by the fact that our two U.S. senators, John Sununu and Judd Gregg, have refused to support increased mental health care for veterans. For example, they both voted against a 2005 measure to provide $500 million per year specifically for veterans' mental health care. Now that the troubling rate of mental illness among Iraq and Afghanistan veterans is known, we urge our senators to change course and stand up for our veterans.

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The Rand study estimated that projected cases of PTSD and other mental illnesses for the 1.6 million soldiers returning from war could cost between $4 billion and $6.2 billion over two years. Thus, supporting our veterans with increased mental health care services is not only a moral and patriotic duty, it is also a wise investment.

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