Citation

Denneson LM, Teo AR, Ganzini L, Helmer DA, Bair MJ, Dobscha SK. Suicide Life Threat. Behav. 2014; 45(4): 399-414.

Affiliation

Portland Center to Improve Veteran Involvement in Care (CIVIC), Portland VA Medical Center, Portland, OR; Department of Psychiatry, Oregon Health & Science University, Portland, OR, USA.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2014, American Association of Suicidology, Publisher John Wiley and Sons)

DOI

10.1111/sltb.12136

PMID

25367753

Abstract

We sought to understand Operation Enduring Freedom and Operation Iraqi Freedom (OEF/OIF) veterans' experiences with suicidal ideation. Semi-structured interviews with 34 OEF/OIF veterans addressed circumstances leading up to disclosure of suicidal ideation during brief clinical assessments. We used an iterative, inductive and deductive thematic analysis approach.

RESULTS revealed three pervasive, persistent domains that reinforce the uniqueness of veteran suicidal thoughts: military culture, difficult deployment experiences, and postdeployment adjustment challenges. Within postdeployment, we identified four themes that serve as intervention targets: adjusting to civilian culture, changes to sense of self, feeling overwhelmed by stressors, and lacking life purpose or meaning.

Language: en