VA Veteran Suicide Data Young Veterans 3 Times Higher Than Peers

Open your eyes to this and then ask, what will it take for them to notice they continue to fail?

• In 2007, the Department of Veterans Affairs began an intensive effort to reduce suicide among Veterans.

Result

Additional Data Since Publication of the VA Suicide Data
Report, 2012: Comparing 2010 and 2011 with 2009
• No clear changes in suicide rates in the total population of VHA users or in male Veterans overall
• Increases in the suicide rate of male VHA users under age 30, especially in those aged 18-25 years
• Increases in the suicide rate in female VHA users

YOUNG VETS ARE THREE TIMES MORE LIKELY TO COMMIT SUICIDE
RIng Of Fire by Joshua De Leon
January 12, 2015

The Department of Veteran Affairs released a briefing last Thursday indicating that male military veterans below the age of 30 are three times more likely to commit suicide than non-military members of the same cohort, reported ThinkProgress.

According to the briefing, the entire collective of military veterans didn’t see any increase in veteran suicides. However, suicides among the age 18 – 24 cohort increased by a rate of 33 per 100,000 over the course of three years. This increase translates to a suicide rate of 79.1 per 1,000 among young veterans while non-military males was dramatically lower, 25 per 1,000.

The trend among males aged 18 – 24 is similar to females also, albeit a much lower rate comparatively. Not surprisingly, sadly, 70 percent of male suicides are committed using firearms. Eighty percent of females, on the other hand, resorted to self-poisoning or firearms.

There are programs provided by the Department of Veteran Affairs to veterans with some success. Veterans enrolled in the Veteran Health Administration enjoyed a 30 percent decrease in suicides. Non-enrollees suicide numbers increased by 60 percent.

Military health professionals have still been unable to define exactly what causes veteran suicide rates to increase and be higher than that of the civilian population. Dr. Janet Kemp, the VA’s National Mental Health Director for Suicide Prevention, believes it could have something to do with injuries sustained during service and lifestyle readjustments.
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