VA Reports Suicide Rate Among Young Veterans increased over past two years

According to the Veterans and Military Family advocacy group Veterans for Common Sense (VCS), the Department of Veterans Affairs just released data to the Associated Press indicating that the suicide rate among veterans aged 18 to 29 tragically increased 26 percent, an issue first publicized by VCS and CBS Evening News in November 2007.

President Obama, Defense Secretary Gates, and Veterans Affairs Secretary Shinseki need to immediately implement a strategic casualty plan with a significant mental health component. A long-term casualty care effort must start with both DoD and the VA quickly hiring more mental health professionals, examining every Soldier before and after deployment (as required by law), and providing prompt access to high-quality care. This is critical because multiple deployments to war increase the risk of PTSD (and therefore suicide) by three-fold.

VCS also recommends that VA and DoD expand their anti-stigma efforts and encourage our service members and veterans with mental health symptoms to seek care soon, when treatment is most effective and least expensive.

ROBERT L. HANAFIN
Editorial Board Member
VT News Network

http://www.veteranstodaynetwork.com/

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“There are those who look at things the way they are, and ask why… I dream of things that never were, and ask why not?” Robert Francis Kennedy

Breaking News: VA Reports Suicide Rate Among Young Veterans Jumps 26 Percent in Two Years

The Associated Press reported on January 11, 2010, that the suicide rate among 18- to 29-year-old men who’ve left the military has gone up significantly, according to the VA. The rate for these veterans went up 26 percent from 2005 to 2007, according to preliminary data from the VA. Most of the veterans in this age group served in Iraq or Afghanistan are believed to have served at least one tour or more in Iraq, Afghanistan, or both.

The only bright spot in the data, it’s that in 2007 younger veterans who used VA health care were less likely to commit suicide than those who did not. That’s a change from 2005.

The Pentagon in recent years has struggled as well with an increase in suicides, with the Army seeing a record number last year. While DoD frequently releases such data, it has been more difficult to track suicide information on veterans once they’ve left active duty.

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.

The VA and the military have sought to more aggressively tackle the problem in recent years with measures ranging from a suicide hot line to educational campaigns.

At a conference 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.

He noted that of the 30,000 suicides each year in America, about 20 percent are committed by Veterans.

“Why do we know so much about suicides but still know so little about how to prevent them?” Shinseki said. “Simple question but we continue to be challenged.”

Written by Kimberly Hefling

Robert L. Hanafin

Readers are more than welcome to use the articles I’ve posted on Veterans Today, I’ve had to take a break from VT as Veterans Issues and Peace Activism Editor and staff writer due to personal medical reasons in our military family that take away too much time needed to properly express future stories or respond to readers in a timely manner.

My association with VT since its founding in 2004 has been a very rewarding experience for me.

Retired from both the Air Force and Civil Service. Went in the regular Army at 17 during Vietnam (1968), stayed in the Army Reserve to complete my eight year commitment in 1976. Served in Air Defense Artillery, and a Mechanized Infantry Division (4MID) at Fort Carson, Co. Used the GI Bill to go to college, worked full time at the VA, and non-scholarship Air Force 2-Year ROTC program for prior service military. Commissioned in the Air Force in 1977. Served as a Military Intelligence Officer from 1977 to 1994. Upon retirement I entered retail drugstore management training with Safeway Drugs Stores in California. Retail Sales Management was not my cup of tea, so I applied my former U.S. Civil Service status with the VA to get my foot in the door at the Justice Department, and later Department of the Navy retiring with disability from the Civil Service in 2000.

I’ve been with Veterans Today since the site originated. I’m now on the Editorial Board. I was also on the Editorial Board of Our Troops News Ladder another progressive leaning Veterans and Military Family news clearing house.

I remain married for over 45 years. I am both a Vietnam Era and Gulf War Veteran. I served on Okinawa and Fort Carson, Colorado during Vietnam and in the Office of the Air Force Inspector General at Norton AFB, CA during Desert Storm. I retired from the Air Force in 1994 having worked on the Air Staff and Defense Intelligence Agency at the Pentagon.