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Veteran deaths by suicide dropped for the second straight year in 2020, according to a U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) report released Sept. 19. However, a new privately funded study also released this month indicated that the actual number of such deaths may be higher.
VA’s 2022 National Veteran Suicide Annual Report found that Veteran deaths by suicide dropped by 307 in 2019 and 343 in 2020, the largest decrease registered since 2001, and the first evaluation of data during the early part of the COVID-19 pandemic.
“This year’s report shows real progress but there is still so much work to be done,” VA Secretary Denis McDonough said in a statement. “One Veteran suicide is one too many, and VA will continue to work with our federal, state, local and private partners to tackle this problem and save Veterans’ lives.”
Although the 2020 numbers are down, VA still counted 6,146 Veteran deaths by suicide. At a rate of 31.7 deaths per 100,000 Veterans, suicide is the second leading cause of Veteran deaths. A total of 44,298 U.S. adults, including Veterans, died by suicide in 2020.
The VA report, counting deaths by suicide involving a firearm, suffocation, poisoning and other methods, found that from 2018 to 2020, the age- and sex-adjusted suicide rate among Veterans fell by 9.7%. The average number of Veteran suicides per day was 16.8 in 2020, down from 18.6 per day in 2018, officials said. VA reported that COVID-19 didn’t impact trends in deaths by suicide among Veterans.
VA’s report relies on information from the VA/Department of Defense (DOD) Mortality Data Repository, which includes national death certificate data through 2020. This year, VA for the first time released state-level suicide findings along with national results.
“The state data sheets are a critical tool to help VA and state-level partners design and execute the most effective suicide prevention strategies,” VA officials said. (Access the drop-down menu of state data sheets at https://www.mentalhealth.va.gov/suicide_prevention/data.asp.)
Group argues VA could be underreporting scope of the problem
A separate interim analysis of five years of Veteran and civilian death data from eight states, published by the group America’s Warrior Partnership (AWP), found that the rate of Veteran death by suicide — including fatalities related to self-harm and other nonnatural causes — could be 2.4 times higher than VA previously reported.
AWP’s “Operation Deep Dive” study was conducted by the University of Alabama and Duke University with initial funding from the Bristol Meyers Squibb Foundation. It looked at suicide-related data among male and female Veterans between the ages of 18 and 64 in Alabama, Florida, Maine, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Montana and Oregon.
Unlike VA, the AWP study looked at both Veteran deaths by suicide and self-injury mortality (SIM), which includes fatal incidents such as accidental gunshot, asphyxiation, drowning, overdose, suicide by law enforcement and high-speed, single-driver accidents.
Looking at this broader data set during 2014 and 2018, AWP study authors argued that VA may have undercounted by 37% the death rate of Veterans (or FSMs, former service members).
“If these eight states collectively represented the national rate,” the AWP report said, “the combined death rate would be at least 44 FSMs per day which is 2.4 times higher than the VA suicide rate.”
AWP argued among other things that VA should include SIM in all analyses of Veterans’ death. These and other improvements in death reporting could help national, state, local and community policy makers and service providers better identify which Veterans are at risk of death by suicide and other means of fatal self-harm.
VA’s main priority is to end Veterans deaths by suicide
VA officials said in the report that ending Veteran deaths by suicide remains its top clinical priority. To move closer to this goal, VA also announced these initiatives:
• Released $52 million in suicide prevention grants to 80 community-based organizations (CBOs) located in 43 states, the District of Columbia and American Samoa (https://news.va.gov/108884/grant-funding-community-suicide-prevention).
• Awarded $250,000 to 30 finalists and $100,000 to 10 promising programs under its Mission Daybreak challenge, which engages Veterans, CBOs, tech companies, startups and universities in developing novel solutions to prevent Veteran suicides (https://www.missiondaybreak.net).
• Established a new 988 (then press 1) number for reaching the Veterans Crisis Line.
• Proposed a rule to waive or reduce VA copayments for Veterans at risk of suicide (https://www.va.gov/opa/pressrel/pressrelease.cfm?id=5751).
• Launched a public outreach campaign to promote firearms safety (https://www.va.gov/reach/lethal-means), and another called “Don’t Wait. Reach Out.” to raise awareness on how to prevent Veteran suicide (https://www.va.gov/REACH).
Learn more
• Read VA’s news release on the 2022 annual report: https://rly.pt/3RXglEt
• Visit the VA report webpage for highlights, the full report, answers to questions and more: https://rly.pt/3QXNU84
• Learn about VA’s S.A.V.E. training: https://rly.pt/S-A-V-E
• Get the interim findings from the America’s Warrior Partnership report: https://rly.pt/3SGhkJl
If you or someone you know is having thoughts of suicide, contact the Veterans Crisis Line at any time by dialing 988 and then pressing 1, chatting online at VeteransCrisisLine.net/Chat or texting 838255.
VA’s 2022 National Veteran Suicide Annual Report found that Veteran deaths by suicide dropped by 307 in 2019 and 343 in 2020, the largest decrease registered since 2001, and the first evaluation of data during the early part of the COVID-19 pandemic.
“This year’s report shows real progress but there is still so much work to be done,” VA Secretary Denis McDonough said in a statement. “One Veteran suicide is one too many, and VA will continue to work with our federal, state, local and private partners to tackle this problem and save Veterans’ lives.”
Although the 2020 numbers are down, VA still counted 6,146 Veteran deaths by suicide. At a rate of 31.7 deaths per 100,000 Veterans, suicide is the second leading cause of Veteran deaths. A total of 44,298 U.S. adults, including Veterans, died by suicide in 2020.
The VA report, counting deaths by suicide involving a firearm, suffocation, poisoning and other methods, found that from 2018 to 2020, the age- and sex-adjusted suicide rate among Veterans fell by 9.7%. The average number of Veteran suicides per day was 16.8 in 2020, down from 18.6 per day in 2018, officials said. VA reported that COVID-19 didn’t impact trends in deaths by suicide among Veterans.
VA’s report relies on information from the VA/Department of Defense (DOD) Mortality Data Repository, which includes national death certificate data through 2020. This year, VA for the first time released state-level suicide findings along with national results.
“The state data sheets are a critical tool to help VA and state-level partners design and execute the most effective suicide prevention strategies,” VA officials said. (Access the drop-down menu of state data sheets at https://www.mentalhealth.va.gov/suicide_prevention/data.asp.)
Group argues VA could be underreporting scope of the problem
A separate interim analysis of five years of Veteran and civilian death data from eight states, published by the group America’s Warrior Partnership (AWP), found that the rate of Veteran death by suicide — including fatalities related to self-harm and other nonnatural causes — could be 2.4 times higher than VA previously reported.
AWP’s “Operation Deep Dive” study was conducted by the University of Alabama and Duke University with initial funding from the Bristol Meyers Squibb Foundation. It looked at suicide-related data among male and female Veterans between the ages of 18 and 64 in Alabama, Florida, Maine, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Montana and Oregon.
Unlike VA, the AWP study looked at both Veteran deaths by suicide and self-injury mortality (SIM), which includes fatal incidents such as accidental gunshot, asphyxiation, drowning, overdose, suicide by law enforcement and high-speed, single-driver accidents.
Looking at this broader data set during 2014 and 2018, AWP study authors argued that VA may have undercounted by 37% the death rate of Veterans (or FSMs, former service members).
“If these eight states collectively represented the national rate,” the AWP report said, “the combined death rate would be at least 44 FSMs per day which is 2.4 times higher than the VA suicide rate.”
AWP argued among other things that VA should include SIM in all analyses of Veterans’ death. These and other improvements in death reporting could help national, state, local and community policy makers and service providers better identify which Veterans are at risk of death by suicide and other means of fatal self-harm.
VA’s main priority is to end Veterans deaths by suicide
VA officials said in the report that ending Veteran deaths by suicide remains its top clinical priority. To move closer to this goal, VA also announced these initiatives:
• Released $52 million in suicide prevention grants to 80 community-based organizations (CBOs) located in 43 states, the District of Columbia and American Samoa (https://news.va.gov/108884/grant-funding-community-suicide-prevention).
• Awarded $250,000 to 30 finalists and $100,000 to 10 promising programs under its Mission Daybreak challenge, which engages Veterans, CBOs, tech companies, startups and universities in developing novel solutions to prevent Veteran suicides (https://www.missiondaybreak.net).
• Established a new 988 (then press 1) number for reaching the Veterans Crisis Line.
• Proposed a rule to waive or reduce VA copayments for Veterans at risk of suicide (https://www.va.gov/opa/pressrel/pressrelease.cfm?id=5751).
• Launched a public outreach campaign to promote firearms safety (https://www.va.gov/reach/lethal-means), and another called “Don’t Wait. Reach Out.” to raise awareness on how to prevent Veteran suicide (https://www.va.gov/REACH).
Learn more
• Read VA’s news release on the 2022 annual report: https://rly.pt/3RXglEt
• Visit the VA report webpage for highlights, the full report, answers to questions and more: https://rly.pt/3QXNU84
• Learn about VA’s S.A.V.E. training: https://rly.pt/S-A-V-E
• Get the interim findings from the America’s Warrior Partnership report: https://rly.pt/3SGhkJl
If you or someone you know is having thoughts of suicide, contact the Veterans Crisis Line at any time by dialing 988 and then pressing 1, chatting online at VeteransCrisisLine.net/Chat or texting 838255.
Suicide
Mental Health
Health
Edited >1 y ago
Posted >1 y ago
Responses: 16
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As usual conflicting data...VA says one thing and another privately funded study says the opposite.
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Thank you for the news report, be far better if there were no suicides RallyPoint Shared Content
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