Portland State Magazine Fall 2007

who have 12 or more years of education are also at a higher risk; have the same risk of death from disease and accident as non-veterans; who are overweight have a lower ri k of suicide; who commit suicide are more likely to live in rural areas; are 58 percent more likely co use firearms to commit suicide than non-veterans; and who are physically impaired are more likely to commit suicide. And it's this last point that Kaplan finds especially troubling. As battlefield medicine has improved, the number of soldiers who survive severe wounds has soared. During the Vietnam War, for every soldier killed in action, three were wounded in action, says Travis Wright '01, readjustment counseling therapist at the Portland 14 PORTLAND STATE MAGAZINE FALL 2007 CHRIS GOODRICH ------. Chris Goodrich, coordinator of veteran services and undergraduate adviser at PSU, comes from a military family but was unable to serve because of physical limitations. However, his older stepbrother, Kurt Schurr, was a U.S. Marine lance corporal 1n Vietnam. Schurr saw horrendous carnage and suffered from Agent Orange poisoning and post-traumatic stress disorder. He never fully recovered . Two years ago, Schurr arrived on Goodrich's doorstep skeleton thin, using a cane, missing all his teeth, and clearly dangerously ill. Goodrich arranged medical appointments, but his brother had reached the end. One day Schurr walked into Goodrich's backyard and shot himself. "His note," says Goodrich, "said, 'I can't live with the pain any longer.'" Vee Center. Today, the ratio of deaths co injuries is 1 to 16-meaning chat thousands more soldiers who would have died on the battlefield from their injuries, now are coming home. Ironically, chat good news also implies a heartbreaking burden . oc only is life now harder, says Wright, but a veteran's injuries serve as a reminder every day for the rest of his or her life of all chat happened and of all chat was lost. Kaplan is of the same mind, and says that the study may well foreshadow trends for veterans of Iraq and Afghanistan. "In light of current veterans coming home with serious physical disabilities and psychiatric problems," says Kaplan, "their families and health care providers need to be more attentive to the early signs of depression and suicidal behavior." "Whenever he started going through an episode," says Goodrich in recalling his stepbrother, "he just packed up what he could carry on his back and disappeared." THE MEDIA HAS beenquickropick up on Kaplan's findings. Journalists from the Anchorage Daily News to National Public Radio and the BBC have reported on the study and its impli– cations for the current conflicts in Iran and Afghanistan. After 15 years of working our of the sporlighr on suicide prevention, Kaplan finds the sudden attention encouraging. "I find it often frustrating char mental health issues-suicide especially-don't get the attention of other issues," says Kaplan. "I'd like the study co serve as a wake-up call." ■ Melissa Steineger, a Portlandfreelance writer, wrote the article "Up in the Air" in the spring 2007 Portland State Magazine.