CBC/Global/Metro: Canadian military members more likely to attempt suicide, University of Manitoba study finds
A new study from the University of Manitoba has found Canadian military members have higher rates of suicide attempts and suicidal thoughts than the rest of the Canadian population.
But the study also found military members are more likely to access mental health services….
“It seems as though, in the last number of years, the military, a substantial proportion have been deployed to Afghanistan and a number of them have been dealing with post-traumatic stress and depression,” said the lead author on the study, Jitender Sareen. He’s a professor of psychiatry at the University of Manitoba.
It also found the Canadian Armed Forces have made greater investments in mental health services compared to the public system in Canada.
“What we can learn is suicide rates in the civilian population have relatively been stable over the last ten years. So although there has been a lot of increase in funding for mental health services I think we need more funding for the general mental health services so people can have more access,” said Sareen. “But also more importantly, for people who have suicidal thoughts or attempts, we need targeted services.”