Srpski arhiv za celokupno lekarstvo 2015 Volume 143, Issue 9-10, Pages: 590-594
https://doi.org/10.2298/SARH1510590M
Full text ( 159 KB)
Cited by
Suicides among Serbian war veterans: An autopsy study
Mihailović Zoran (School of Medicine, Institute of Forensic Medicine “Milovan Milovanović”, Belgrade)
Savić Slobodan (School of Medicine, Institute of Forensic Medicine “Milovan Milovanović”, Belgrade)
Damjanjuk Irina (School of Medicine, Institute of Forensic Medicine “Milovan Milovanović”, Belgrade)
Jovanović Aleksandar (Clinical Center of Serbia, Institute of Psychiatry, Department of Forensic Psychiatry, Belgrade + School of Medicine, Belgrade)
Vuković Simo (University for Peace of the United Nations, European Center for Peace and Development (ECPD), Belgrade)
Introduction. The risk of suicide among war veterans is a controversial
issue, where findings so far have been contradictory. Objective. This study
focusses on suicide in Serbian veterans from the wars in former Yugoslavia in
the 1990s in order to create appropriate preventive measures and reduce the
number of these fatal cases. Methods. The autopsy protocols of all 44
suicides committed by war veterans in the Belgrade District population over a
period between 1992 and 2000 were investigated. Data were obtained from
autopsy records, results of toxicological investigations and psychological
autopsy protocols. Results. Symptoms of posttraumatic stress disorder were
present in 27.3%, major depression in 9.1% and schizophrenia in 6.8% of
veterans. The majority of suicides (84.1%) were committed by recruits in the
Yugoslav National Army, spending between three and eight months in the zone
of war operations. Six committed suicide during the first 30 days after their
war activities, while the majority of suicides occurred between five and six
years after combat. The most frequent manner of suicide was the use of
handguns (56.8%) and bombs (18.2%). Conclusion. 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.
Keywords: veterans, suicide, autopsy, Serbia
Projekat
Ministarstva nauke Republike Srbije, br. OI 175093