6 Responses for "Can post traumatic stress disorder lead to suicide?"

1. Becky K December 4th, 2009 at 12:48 pm 1

   Yes it can, how one act differs from person to person. I have PTSD AKA Post Traumatic Stress Disorder but I am dealing with it, I have other disabilities also. I will eventually get another Service Dog when I get my own place again to help with my PTSD and other issues, you should see a Psychiatrist and a Psychologist and maybe get on some meds. Talking to someone can help sometimes, I see both.
   References :

2. I am not a link. Leave me alone December 4th, 2009 at 1:14 pm 2

   There is evidence that traumatic events such as sexual abuse, combat trauma, rape, and domestic violence generally increase a person’s suicide risk. Multiple factors contribute to suicide risk in veterans.

   Some of the most common factors are listed below:

   male gender

   alcohol abuse

   family history of suicide

   older age

   poor social-environmental support (exemplified by

   homelessness and unmarried status)

   possession of firearms

   the presence of medical and psychiatric conditions (including combat-related PTSD) associated with suicide
   References :

3. Crazy Sarah December 4th, 2009 at 1:52 pm 3

   yeah PTSD can lead to suicide,

   The person often get quite depressed and with drawn. makes suicide plans and ties up any loose ends (a Will, note ect) but it really depends on the individual because everybody acts differently and there is not set way to act
   References :

4. CartoonGirl December 4th, 2009 at 2:12 pm 4

   http://www.metanoia.org/suicide/ptsd.htm
   References :

5. dzerjb December 4th, 2009 at 2:36 pm 5

   Yes, absolutely!
   The problem for the sufferer is that his/her behaviour appears quite normal though a bit depressed & nobody recognises what they’ve gone through. However, any occurrence of a situation similar to the original trauma can bring on horrific flashbacks in which the sufferer re-lives the original experience. So in your story, a flashback could be induced by a distinctive as little as seeing somebody similarly dressed to the murderer, somebody whose movements are similar, the same smell that was present at the murder scene & nowhere else etc. etc. The PTSD sufferer would naturally try to avoid situations in which these triggers occur, but they can’t be totally eliminated. The absence of recognition, e.g. if the sufferer is just not believed can add to the trauma & further increase isolation.
   The wikipedia entry on this http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PTSD is pretty good & there are some useful links. Some of the suggested therapy, e.g. CBT can actually make it worse, so you could even have your character having therapy & everybody believing he should be OK & telling him to just "snap out of it" leaving him even more desperate as a result of their misguided attempts to "help". Then seeing a simple opportunity to end the pressure without ever thinking it through, he just goes for it e.g. calmly walks off a bridge, in front of a train or a lorry etc. Just make sure it would work as 95% of suicide attempts fail.
   You could introduce a double or a triple whammy. Many PTSD sufferers seem to have other bad things happen to them after their first trauma - all apparently unconnected. It gets like a real life version of an implausible soap opera script. The difference is that nobody ever believes these many things could happen to one person. Unfortunately, as the PTSD sufferer barely copes (the stress induced by PTSD brings on depression which makes it even harder to communicate with others who don’t want to know), he is open to many more things that otherwise he would normally avoid
   References :
   PTSD sufferer & specialist therapist. My attempt to end things was a visit to Bosnia just after their war. I had loads of opportunities through unsafe situations but the Bosnian people were so full of love they completely turned my ideas around by fully understanding what I was suffering,
   Two years later my daughter was murdered & it was my Bosnian friends who did most to help me through. I hadn’t realised it at the time, but a relative was also defrauding me through a bank trust fund.

6. The Wild Man December 4th, 2009 at 3:01 pm 6

   if you are stressed wathc this http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yjPcb3eMS6s Lil Jack can help
   References :