Suicides among Serbian war veterans: An autopsy study

Abstract

The results of this research may give useful information about the individuals with the highest suicidal risk in order to alleviate the consequences of war psychotraumas in veterans and prevent their growth into a permanent handicap or suicide.

Trends in suicide by hanging, strangulation, and suffocation in Serbia, 1991-2020: A joinpoint regression and age-period-cohort analysis

“…The possible explanations for this unfavorable trend during this period in males include the devastating effects of civil wars, the economic and political sanctions, the collapse of the economy, the hyperinflation of the national currency, the notable drop in general living standard, the poor quality of health services (shortage of drugs, medical equipment, together with a large number of wounded individuals, decreasing hospitalization rates, particularly for people aged ≥ 60 years), the influx of more than a million refugees and social disintegration all generated circumstances where suicide prevention and management presented a significant challenge in medical practice[ 63 , 64 ]. The autopsy protocols of all 44 suicides committed by war veterans in the capital Belgrade over the 1991-2000 period showed that 27.3% of veterans had posttraumatic stress disorder, 9.1% had major depression and 6.8% had schizophrenia, while most suicides (84.1%) were committed by recruits of the Yugoslav National Army who spent 3-8 mo in the zone of war operations[ 65 ]. Contrary, among migrants of the Balkan wars in Sweden during the 1991-2001 Balkan wars, in comparison to other European migrants in Sweden during the same period, the risk of death from somatic diseases and psychiatric disorders, particularly post-traumatic stress disorder, was elevated, while the risk of suicide was reduced[ 66 ].…”