Everyone has a role to play in preventing suicide among Veterans, Service members, and all Americans.

The REACH campaign, a key component of The President's Roadmap to Empower Veterans and End a National Tragedy of Suicide (PREVENTS), is the largest public health campaign dedicated to suicide prevention in the Nation’s history. The campaign, which was launched on July 7, recognizes that to prevent suicide, we must reach beyond what we have done before– including the way we think about, talk about, and address emotional pain and suffering.

Anyone can be at risk for suicide. On average, 132 Americans die by suicide each day, accounting for 47,173 suicide deaths in 2017. For Veterans, the overall suicide rate is 1.5 times higher and the female Veteran suicide rate is 2.2 times higher than the general population after adjusting for age and/or sex. Suicide is also the 10th leading cause of death among all ages and the 2nd leading cause of death among those ages 10-34 in the United States.

There is good news: we can all learn to recognize and understand our risk and protective factors. The campaign website: https://rly.pt/WithinREACH provides information on these factors and other information that can help us reach to those we know are struggling or to reach out when we are struggling.

As VA Secretary Robert Wilkie stated, “REACH will remind everyone that they can make a difference by learning how to connect with those at risk and point them in the right direction.”

Join us in this national effort and REACH to those you love. Start by taking the PREVENTS Pledge to REACH. By taking the pledge, you can commit to help increase awareness of mental health challenges and suicide prevention practices to reduce suicide for Veterans and all Americans. Please visit https://rly.pt/TakeThePledge to take the PREVENTS Pledge to REACH. After you have signed the Pledge, you can download, print, and proudly display your copy. Share that you have signed by using the hashtag #REACHNow and encourage your network to take the Pledge as well. You can even download a PREVENTS badge to your e-mail signature signifying that you have signed.

On Tuesday, August 18, we held a live RallyPoint Q&A on how together, we can prevent suicide for Service members, Veterans, and all Americans. You can review that conversation here:: https://rly.pt/PREVENTSQA