Kentucky Suicides Tied to Military Have Inreased

And this is after all the other "suicide prevention bills" congress has not only passed but paid for.

Military Suicides Have Spiked in Kentucky in Recent Years
WFPL.org
By DEVIN KATAYAMA
December 15, 2014

Suicides among Kentucky veterans and active military service members have increased the past several years. In many cases, those who have died never sought help through the Veterans Affairs Medical Center.

“Most of the people [military service members] that kill themselves we don’t know about,” said Barbara Kaminer, Louisville’s Robley Rex VA suicide prevention coordinator.

The increase in suicides among veterans and servicemembers has led to legislation aimed at reducing or eliminating suicides of active service members, but the effort face challenges.

There’s no national database that tracks all active duty and veteran suicides; once a service member is discharged the government no longer keeps tabs on them.

The Department of Defense does track active military member suicides. Last year, 475 active service members committed suicide, according to the data. That’s compared to the 132 active soldiers the U.S. has lost in combat.

The University of Kentucky’s Kentucky Violent Death Reporting System has more complete figures.

In 2012, 129 active military members and veterans committed suicide in the state. That is more than double any year from 2005 and 2009. And it’s been increasing.
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