The unusual number of sports
players who experienced TBI
(traumatic brain injury) and later committed suicide, and the number of
military vets who experienced TBI while in combat and later committed suicide
may not be a coincidence, say researchers.
"Research on traumatic
brain injury is of utmost concern right now for veteran disability
advocates," commented veterans disability lawyer James Fausone.
A new study published in the journal JAMA Psychiatry has
proposed a link between multiple concussions or traumatic brain injuries and
suicidal actions later. In addition, the researchers found that a significant
number of the men who experienced military-related TBI had a sports-playing
history, which indicates that they may have experienced TBI on the playing
field years earlier, as well.
The study, conducted by an
Air Force psychologist, looked at 161 individuals sent to his clinic for
suspected concussions. Those interviewed were asked about any history of head
trauma, any battles with depression, PTSD
or struggling with suicidal thoughts. The study concluded that many of the head
injuries referenced by the study participants, in some cases as many as 6
injuries by one individual, were sustained prior to military service. Approximately
20 percent of the study participants reported that they experience concussion
during their basic training, and some reports that they had sustained as many
as 15 different head injuries during their tour of duty.
Post-traumatic stress
disorder and depression are both high-risk factors for suicide, and combat
experience typically would only increase their severity, said the researchers.
Individuals who already experience one or both of these conditions and then
join the service would explain why there are such high levels of suicide in the
Armed Forces.
The researchers suggest that
head trauma may set up a pre-existing disposition towards suicidal idealization
or action which is then exacerbated by additional head trauma during combat.
Exposure to an IED (improvised explosive device) buffets the brain within the
skull by concussive shock waves, which can cause bleeding in the brain at
numerous, hard-to-detect sites, causing damage. Subtle traumatic brain injury can be impossible to
detect by an average physical; it is possible that many military personnel
entered the service well enough to serve, and then subsequent damage further
made them more susceptible to suicidal thoughts than someone who had not
sustained sports-related concussions or other head injuries.
Source
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/foreign-affairs-defense/a-new-link-between-traumatic-brain-injury-and-suicide/
No comments:
Post a Comment