How is your state doing on Veteran Suicides?

The Department of Veterans Affairs data on veteran suicide for 2016. How is your state? Considering Florida and Texas tie for 1st place, it is interesting to see what other states are reporting. 

The challenge for reporters is to actually read the report this time, and they stop the slogan of "22 a day" since that number has been proven to be false. The VA warned about it being taken from limited data from just 21 states. Yet reporters must have thought, "hey that sounds good to me" so they pushed it. They still are. Check your state and then get an eyeopener at the end.

The challenge for us is, discovering how many veterans charities are in your state claiming to be "raising awareness" at the same time?

ALABAMA

An estimated 34.2 Alabama veterans per 100,000 died by suicide in 2016, compared to the national veteran suicide rate of 30.1 per 100,000. Among the civilian population, the national suicide rate drops to 17.5.

The state of Alabama boasts a higher percentage of its population as veterans. In 2016, the VA found 9.8 percent of the adult population of Alabama to be veterans, compared to 6.6 percent nationally. A total of 373,761 veterans live in our state. WAFF 48 News

128

ALASKA

17

ARIZONA

227

ARKANSAS

79

CALIFORNIA

490

COLORADO

175

CONNECTICUT

36

DELAWARE

24

WASHINGTON DC

LESS THAN10

FLORIDA 

530

GEORGIA 

202

HAWAII

11

IDAHO

58

ILLINOIS

162

INDIANA

70

IOWA

64

KANSAS

60

KENTUKY

108

LOUISIANA

75

MAINE

29

MARYLAND

67

MASSACHUSETTS

68

MICHIGAN

159

MINNESOTA

95

MISSISSIPPI

50

MISSOURI

154

MONTANA

42

NEBRASKA

27

NEVADA

According to the latest data released by the U.S. Department of Veterans affairs., Nevada's veteran suicide rate is also significantly higher than the national rate. 8 News Las Vegas

The vast majority are men of all ages. The local V.A. Hospital in North Las Vegas helps more than 60,000 military members. About 20,000 of them seek mental health treatment.

107

NEW HAMPSHIRE

33

NEW JERSEY

67

NEW MEXICO

71

NEW YORK

153

NORTH CAROLINA

184

NORTH DAKOTA

16

OHIO

245

OKLAHOMA

110

OREGON

122

Oregon advocates target alarming veteran suicide rate

One such tragedy happens in Oregon every 3 days

PENNSYLVANIA

263

PUERTO RICO

LESS THAN10

RHODE ISLAND

16

SOUTH CAROLINA

120

SOUTH DAKOTA

18

TENNESSEE

156

TEXAS

530

UTAH

59

VERMONT

25

VIRGINIA

196

WASHINGTON

174

WEST VIRGINIA

50

WISCONSIN

132

WYOMING

23

Right now they are jumping on the "decrease" in suicides while not mentioning the fact the number of veterans living at the time, has gone down every year. The rate has gone up until 2016 when it went down by only .4%.

Do not let them get away with pushing a slogan this time too. If not, then what do you think the next report will look like?