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10: Suicidality in the Treatment of Veterans

DOI:

10.1891/9780826158239.0010

Abstract

Suicide is a major concern in treating military personnel and veterans. Therapists who treat these populations are confronted with suicidality, how to assess for it and recognize the warning signs, what questions to ask, and how to best manage clients who struggle with potential suicide as their reality. This chapter describes the theories of suicide, the desensitization to death during combat, the impact of war wounds, the influence of traumatic brain injuries, moral injury, and the influence of dissociation on suicidal ideation. It also discusses the impact of military sexual trauma, unresolved grief, and moral injury that can impact a person’s will to live or die. The chapter presents three key questions for assessing suicide. It provides a scripted session of a military client who describes a veteran’s experience during a dissociative suicide attempt with subsequent Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing treatment.