Essay On Veteran Suicide

The public has known that the rate of veterans committing suicide has been astoundingly high and worrisome for many years. According to information shared by Army Times on Thursday, new reports released by the Department of Veteran Affairs include in depth analysis using veteran records from 1979-2014. These records include more than 50 million veterans’ and are from every state, unlike previous studies. The analysis revealed that the viral “22 a day” videos and estimates were not far off from being fact. In 2014, 20 veterans took their own lives every single day.
The new information has revealed that suicide risk is 21 percent higher for veterans than their civilian counterparts. Suicide rates among veterans jumped up 32 percent from 2001-2014. It was found that female veterans were even more at risk with their numbers rising more than 85 percent during those years. Age appeared to play a factor in the rates as well. Approximately 65 percent of veteran suicides in 2014 were among those aged 50 years or older, with no recent involvement with military activity.
Their report revealed that out of 41,425 suicides in 2014, 7403 were veterans. While Veteran Affairs has been increasing mental health staff and making improvements to the Veterans Crisis Line, this new study will allow them to further address the problem.
They will be offering new services including same day appointments for veterans in urgent mental health crisis. They will also be trying to identify veterans that may be at a higher risk and get them help before the unthinkable occurs. “Veterans in the top 0.1 percent of risk, who have a 43-fold increased risk of death from suicide within a month, can be identified before clinical signs of suicide are evident in order to save lives before a crisis occurs,” the VA revealed in a