United States military veteran suicide is an ongoing phenomenon regarding the high rate of suicide among U.S. military veterans in comparison to the general civilian public. A focus on preventing veteran suicide began in 1958 with the opening of the first suicide prevention center in the United States. During the mid-1990s, a paradigm shift in addressing veteran suicide occurred with the development of a national strategy which included several Congressional Resolutions. More advancements were made in 2007, when the Joshua Omvig Veterans Suicide Prevention Act created a comprehensive program including outreach at each Veterans Affairs Office (VA) and the implementation of a 24-hour crisis hotline (the Veterans Crisis Line). PTSD, depression, and combat- related guilt in veterans are often related to suicide as it can be difficult for veterans to transition to civilian life.
A study published in the Cleveland Clinic Journal of Medicine found that, Combat veterans are not only more likely to have suicidal ideation, often associated
with posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and depression, but they are more likely to act on a suicidal plan. Especially since veterans may be less likely to seek help from a mental health professional, non-mental health physicians are in a key position to screen for PTSD, depression, and suicidal ideation in these patients.
The same study also found that in veterans with PTSD related to combat experience, combat-related guilt may be a significant predictor of suicidal ideation and attempts.
Craig Bryan of the University of Utah National Center for Veterans Studies said that veterans have the same risk factors for suicide as the general population, including feelings of depression, hopelessness, post-traumatic stress disorder, a history of trauma, and access to firearms.
Longer deployments increase the risk of divorce. When a soldier is divorced, it is nearly always soon after the end of their deployment.
A study done by the Department of Veterans Affairs discovered that veterans are more likely to develop symptoms of PTSD for a number of reasons such as:
- Longer times at war
- Lower level of education
- More severe combat conditions
- Other soldiers around them killed
- Brain/head trauma
- Female gender
- Life lasting physical injuries
- Military structure
The Department of Veterans Affairs also discovered that where a soldier was deployed and which branch of military they were with could also have drastic effects on their mental status after returning from service. As in most combat wars, their experiences would vary depending on where they were stationed.
In 2012 alone, an estimated 7,500 former military personnel died by suicide. More active duty service members, 177, died from suicide that year than were killed in combat, 176. The Army had 52% of the suicides from all branches.
In 2013, the United States Department of Veteran Affairs released a study that covered suicides from 1999 to 2010, which showed that roughly 22 veterans were dying by suicide per day, or one every 65 minutes. Some sources suggest that this rate may be undercounting suicides. An analysis done in 2013 found a suicide rate among veterans of about 30 per 100,000 population per year, compared with the civilian rate of 14 per 100,000. However, the comparison was not adjusted for
age and sex.
According to a report published by the United States Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) in 2016, which analyzed 55 million veterans’ records from 1979 to 2014, the current analysis indicates that an average of 20 veterans die from suicide per day.
In 2019, the VA released its National Veteran Suicide Prevention Annual Report, which stated that the suicide rate for veterans was 1.5 times the rate of non-veteran adults. The report established that there were 6,000 or more veteran suicides per year from 2008 to 2017. The report also stated that veterans consist of 13.5% of all deaths by suicide in US adults but only make up 7.9% of the US adult population.
A 2021 study by Brown University estimated that 30,177 veterans of post-9/11 conflicts had died by suicide. When compared to the 7,057 personnel killed in the conflicts, at least four times as many veterans died by suicide than personnel were killed during the post-9/11 conflicts. A study released in 2022 found that as many as 44 veterans die on average per day from suicide when accounting overlooked causes of death that are aligned with suicidal and self-harm behavior, which is 2.4 times greater than the official estimate.
The total number of suicides differs by age group; 31% of these suicides were by veterans 49 and younger while 69% were by veterans aged 50 and older. As with suicides in general, suicide of veterans is primarily male, with about 97 percent of the suicides being male in the states that reported gender. In addition to differences among age and gender groups, there has also been found to be significant disparity in suicidal ideation and completion rates among marginalized groups such as LGBT military members. Suicidal ideation was found to be 2-3 times greater in LGBT active- duty and veteran service members, with transgender veterans having been found to commit suicide at double the rates of their cisgender peers.
Support is a call, click or text away.
The primary mission of the Veterans Crisis Line (VCL) is to provide confidential suicide prevention and crisis intervention services to veterans, active-duty service members, national guard/reserve members, and their families. The VCL is available 24/7 and can be reached via phone call, text message, or anonymous online chat. At its three call centers, the VCL maintains a qualified staff of responders who are ready to help veterans deal with their personal crises. Responders must make an accurate assessment of the needs of each caller under stressful, time-sensitive conditions.
Since its launch in 2007, the Veterans Crisis Line has answered nearly 4.4 million calls and initiated the dispatch of emergency services to callers in crisis more than 138,000 times. The Veterans Crisis Line anonymous online chat service, added in 2009, has engaged in more than 511,000 chats. In November 2011, the Veterans Crisis Line introduced a text-messaging service to provide another way for Veterans to connect with confidential, round-the-clock support and since then has responded
to more than 150,000 texts.
The phone number for the Veterans Crisis Line was changed to 988 in July 2022. It was anticipated that calls to the crisis line would increase in the following years due to this.
If you are a veteran or you know one is in crisis PLEASE contact the Veteran Crisis Hotline, you are not alone.
www.veteranscrisisline.net
Dial 988 then press 1
Text 838255
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