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  "Conditions in society which are not defined as a problem and for which alternatives are never proposed, never become policy issues. Government does nothing and conditions remain the same."  T.R.Dye, Policy Analyst
(From the book "Understanding Public Policy" 

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Veterans

 

 

 
 
 

On July 3, 2009, the Department of Veterans Affairs launched a pilot on-line Chat Service, in partnership with Lifeline.  The Veterans Chat Service is located at the VA National Suicide Prevention Hotline.

Veterans Chat enables Veterans, their families and friends to go online where they can anonymously chat with a trained VA counselor. If the chats are determined to be a crisis, the counselor can take immediate steps to transfer the chatter to the VA Suicide Prevention Hotline, where further counseling and referral services are provided and crisis intervention steps can be taken.
The online feature is intended to reach out to all Veterans who may or may not be enrolled in the VA health care system and provide them with online access to the Suicide Prevention Lifeline and provides Veterans with an anonymous way to access VA’s suicide prevention services.
Veterans (and family members or friends) can access Veterans Chat through the Lifeline suicide prevention website.

Know the Signs
Watch for these key suicide warning signs, and provide the Lifeline number to anyone exhibiting them.

  • Talking about wanting to hurt or kill oneself
  • Trying to get pills, guns, or other ways to harm oneself
  • Talking or writing about death, dying or suicide
  • Hopelessness
  • Rage, uncontrolled anger, seeking revenge
  • Acting in a reckless or risky way
  • Feeling trapped, like there is no way out
  • Saying or feeling there's no reason for living.
 

 

Listed below are several other reports that you can view
Document Name & link to article Description file size if pdf
18 U.S. veterans commit suicide each day as a result of Iraq, Afghanistan wars Talking at a VA-sponsored suicide prevention conference this week, VA Secretary Eric Shinseki said that of the more than 30,000 suicides in US each year, fully 20 percent of them are acts by veterans. That means on average 18 veterans commit suicide each day. Five of those veterans are under VA's care.  
22,000 veterans have called suicide hot line More than 22,000 veterans have sought help from a special suicide hot line in its first year, and 1,221 suicides have been averted, the government says.  
APA 2009: Young Women Veterans at High Risk for Suicide Women veterans are 2 to 3 times more likely to commit suicide than nonveteran women. Furthermore, female veterans are more likely to be young and use firearms to commit suicide compared with their civilian counterparts, who tend to choose other methods — commonly drug overdose.  
Army underreporting suicides, advocacy group reports Due to the military's continued attempts to mask the true number of suicides in the ranks, along with an ongoing refusal to make the radical policy changes necessary to properly treat soldiers and psychiatric care providers exposed to secondary post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), Mr. Luther fears the worst for the future.  
Congress Seeks More Data On Veterans' Suicide The Pentagon tracks the number of suicides in Iraq and Afghanistan. For an earlier story, a Pentagon spokeswoman told The Associated Press the military does not keep track of whether active duty troops who took who took their own lives served in Iraq or Afghanistan.  
Desperate veterans turn to suicide Survivors of veterans who committed suicide are starting to file lawsuits, accusing the VA of medical malpractice. The agency also has come under attack by lawmakers and veterans' groups charging that it failed to treat injured veterans for post-traumatic stress disorder or traumatic brain injury, the signature wounds of the Iraq and Afghanistan wars. The agency also has been accused of manipulating suicide statistics to downplay the problem and systematically misdiagnosing returning combat soldiers who suffer mental illness because their resources are tapped.  
Implementing VHA’s Mental Health Strategic Plan Initiatives for Suicide Prevention There are approximately 25 million veterans in the United States and 5 million veterans who receive care within VHA. Based on Centers for Disease Control and Prevention data indicating suicide rates in men between the ages of 20 and 65 approximating 20 per 100,000 persons per year, VHA mental health officials estimate 1,000 suicides per year among veterans receiving care within VHA and as many as 5,000 per year among all living veterans. To better understand the characteristics of suicide in veterans, we reviewed studies on suicide in the general population.. Pdf  1049 kb
OEF/OIF Veteran Suicide Toll: Nearly 15% of Overall U.S. Military Casualties Result from Suicide In 2006, the last year for which records are available, figures show there were about 46 suicides per 100,000 male veterans ages 18-29 who use VA services. That compares with about 20 suicides per 100,000 men of that age who are not veterans, VA records show.  
Post-service suicide rate rises among young veterans At a conference on Monday in Washington dedicated to addressing the issue, VA Secretary Eric Shinseki said his agency needs to do a better job understanding what led to each suicide. He said he'd also like to see more stringent protocol put into place at VA facilities about how to handle a potentially suicide veteran, similar to what's done with someone who's having a heart attack.  
Primary Suicide Risk Factor For Veterans Is Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder Results of the study indicated that veterans who screened positive for PTSD were four times more likely to report suicide-related thoughts relative to veterans without the disorder. The research, published in the Journal of Traumatic Stress, establishes PTSD as a risk factor for thoughts of suicide in Iraq and Afghanistan war veterans.  

Strategies for Suicide Prevention in Veterans

(Large Report-increase download time)		 Suicide is a devastating outcome of major public health importance. Suicide rates for patients abusing alcohol and other substances, or suffering from other mental health conditions may be elevated. Because suicide prevention is a priority of the Veterans Health Administration, the VA wishes to expand and enhance use of evidence-based prevention or reduction methods.. Pdf 1621 kb
Suicide Among Incarcerated Veterans The incarcerated veteran sits at the intersection of these two groups, yet little is known about this subpopulation, particularly its risk of suicide. A Pubmed/Medline/PsycINFO search anchored to incarcerated veteran suicide, veteran suicide, suicide in jails/ prisons, and veterans incarcerated from 2000 to the present was performed. The currently available literature does not reveal the suicide risk of incarcerated veterans, nor does it enable meaningful estimates. However, striking similarities and overlapping characteristics link the data on veteran suicide, inmate suicide, and incarcerated veterans, suggesting that the veteran in jail or prison faces a level of suicide risk beyond that conferred by either veteran status or incarceration alone. Pdf 106 kb
Suicide Epidemic Among Veterans It found that veterans were more than twice as likely to commit suicide in 2005 than non-vets. (Veterans committed suicide at the rate of between 18.7 to 20.8 per 100,000, compared to other Americans, who did so at the rate of 8.9 per 100,000.)  
‘Suicide epidemic’ hits veterans Jaycox says that reserve and National Guard troops are at higher suicide risk than regular active-duty forces. That last has particular relevance in Oregon, where Guard troops have been sent to battle on a scale never seen before. About a third of the Oregon soldiers who have died in Iraq and Afghanistan were in the reserve or National Guard.  
Suicide Prevention Among Veterans Veterans have a number of risk factors that increase their chance of attempting suicide. These risk factors include combat exposure, post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and other mental health problems, traumatic brain injury (TBI), poor social support structures, and access to lethal means. Pdf 120 kb
Suicide rate of young veterans up 26 percent The VA calculated the numbers using Centers for Disease Control and Prevention numbers from 16 states. In 2005, the rate per 100,000 veterans among men ages 18-29 was 44.99, compared with 56.77 in 2007, the VA said. It did not release data for other population groups.  
Suicide rate surged among veterans “The Department of Defense and the Department of Veterans Affairs must be prepared with the appropriate staff and funding to conduct post-deployment psychological screenings with a mental health professional for all service men and women,” he said. “Evidently, the paper questionnaires currently in use simply do not suffice. How many more young men and women must die before we provide the necessary mental health care?”  
Suicide Risk Rises For Young War Veterans A lot of people who join the Army come from dysfunctional families in the first place so there's no-one really there to help when they come out and, even outside the family, few people understand the soldiers' problems.  
THE EPIDEMIOLOGY OF SUICIDE Suicide is the eighth leading cause of death in the United States.(1) Based on the assumption that suicide is not a rational choice, society has long sought to prevent or discourage the practice. In fact, society has generally regarded a suicide attempt as a plea for help or an indication of a need for psychiatric treatment. The debate about legalizing assisted suicide and euthanasia has challenged these assumptions, suggesting that for at least some individuals, society should shift from prevention to toleration or assistance.  
U.S.: Suicide Rate Surged Among Veterans "The Department of Defense and the Department of Veterans Affairs must be prepared with the appropriate staff and funding to conduct post-deployment psychological screenings with a mental health professional for all service men and women," he said. "Evidently, the paper questionnaires currently in use simply do not suffice. How many more young men and women must die before we provide the necessary mental health care?"  
Veteran Battles Suicide Epidemic “The other week, we were at Ft. Campbell, Kentucky, and we were walking into the building, an old theater, this E-7 (Sergeant 1st Class) was sitting there with his sunglasses. (Rhodes) said hi to him ’cause the guy looked disturbed,” Cathy Rhodes said. “People came up after the presentation. This one soldier came up to him and had taken off his sunglasses, and he said, ‘Sergeant Major, I want to thank you.’ That really touched my heart.”  
Veteran Gives Insight on Suicide Prevention “When my leg was taken away … I sat in the hospital bed not knowing what was happening to me mentally,” said Pulido, who medically retired after a 19-year Army career. “I remember those three weeks at Brooke where I thought about the fact that as positive as I am, I hit that dark place, and those hidden wounds were the ones that would cripple me at times when I just didn’t understand.”  
VETERAN'S "SUICIDE BY COP" HIGHLIGHTS PTSD PROBLEM Comstock said he believes the current system to treat PTSD is inadequate. He said if things don't change, we will see suicides and instances of suicide by cop involving veterans.  
Veterans of war In recognition of the need to address the high rate of suicide among veterans, the Department of Veterans Affairs provides a Suicide Prevention Lifeline specifically for veterans: 1-800-273-TALK (8255).