If war does not kill them, veterans will kill themselves anyway.

A recent research at Portland State University and Oregon Health & Science University has shown that male veterans present a double likelihood of committing suicide as compared to their civilian counterparts. "We clearly demonstrated that independent of when they served in the military, veterans were all equally at risk for suicide. What's more, we showed that veterans were at a greater risk of dying of suicide when compared to the non-veteran population," said lead-author Mark Kaplan, professor in the School of Community Health at Portland State University.

"Impaired functional status or disability also appeared to increase the risk of suicide mortality among male veterans."

Previous studies focused mostly on Vietnam-era veterans and almost entirely on clinical populations, while the new research was made on a large nationally representative pool of 104,026 veterans. "It is important to study the risk factors for suicide among veterans especially with the returning service members from Iraq and Afghanistan," said co-author Dr. Bentson McFarland, professor of psychiatry, public health and preventive medicine at OHSU School of Medicine. "Health care providers and family members need to be aware of the fact that veterans are at an increased risk for suicide."

The data showed that Whites and those with at least 12 years of education face the highest risk of committing suicide.

Another risky factor was activity limitation. Overweight veterans presented a lower risk for suicide and veterans were found 58 % more likely to commit suicide by employing firearms than nonveterans. "In light of current veterans coming home with serious physical disabilities and psychiatric problems, their families and health care providers need to be more attentive to the early signs of depression and suicidal behavior, including access to firearms," said Kaplan.

Suicide is a major cause of death in the United States. About 30,000 people commit suicide annually in the US, and another 650,000 attempt suicide; 80 % of them are men.