2,734 Croatian veterans committed suicide in 23 years

From 1991 to 2014, 2,734 Croatian veterans committed suicide, said Zoran Komar, who, as the long-time head of the Military Psychology Service in the Croatian Army, conducted research on veteran suicides, and participated in a round table in Vukovar on the topic of "Suicide of Croatian veterans and causes of death of Croatian veterans", reports the Patria News Agency.

Komar, a retired colonel, warned that the number of veteran suicides is increasing every year, estimating that around 150 veterans take their own lives annually.

-There are three main factors why veterans decide to commit suicide. These are primarily feelings of loneliness and marginalization, feeling like a burden to family and society, as well as the capacity for suicide because they have wartime experiences of death, physical pain, etc. It is necessary to act preventively and involve all parts of society, because veterans are slowly entering critical years, from 65 onwards, when the suicide rate further increases", emphasized Komar, writes Index.