Veterans are twice as likely as civilians to die by suicide

Please pay attention to this, since too many fall into the easy stuff of "raising awareness" that robs veterans of hope they can heal and #TakeBackYourLife instead of taking it.


Veterans more likely than civilians to die by suicide, VA study finds
NBC News
by Maggie Fox
Jun.18.2018

While the trend hasn’t changed since 2014, deaths by suicide are increasing among veterans just as they are in the general population.

James Kohr places an American flag at a veteran's grave at Sunset Memorial Gardens in Odessa, Texas, on May 28.Jacob Ford / Odessa American via AP file

Veterans are twice as likely as civilians to die by suicide, the Department of Veterans Affairs said Monday in its latest report on suicide.

Veterans make up more than 14 percent of all suicides, although they account for only 8 percent of the total population, the VA report said.

While the trend hasn’t changed since 2014, deaths by suicide are increasing among veterans just as they are in the general population, the VA found. Data for the study was obtained from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's National Death Index.

“After adjusting for differences in age, the rate of suicide in 2015 was 2.1 times higher among veterans compared with non-veteran adults,” the report reads. Data for 2015 was the latest complete set of numbers available.

The rate was 1.3 times higher for male veterans compared with civilians and twice as high for female vets, the report found.

“In 2015, an average of 20.6 active-duty service members, non-activated Guard or Reserve members, and other veterans died by suicide each day,” it said.
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