Veteran Suicide Rate Stunning And Heartbreaking

While the military veteran suicide rate has long been a concern, Veterans Affairs has recently released statistics that reveal just how many service members were lost to suicide, and the figures are heartbreaking. According to statistics from 2014, reports ABC News, 20 veterans completed suicide every single day.

Paralyzed Veterans of America reacts to new veteran suicide study: https://t.co/liInYEAbAk pic.twitter.com/F1EurY6PLF

— PVA1946 (@PVA1946) July 7, 2016

This analysis, the largest of its kind to study the veteran suicide rate, is the first to be done on such a large scale. Until recently, the numbers involving the veteran suicide rate had only been estimates, with 22 a day being the approximate average estimated in 2010. While the decline in the veteran suicide rate between 2010 and 2014 is positive, it is only slight, and USA Today reports that David Shulkin, VA Undersecretary for Health, is still concerned.

“It’s still far too high,” he said.

The 2014 numbers which detail the veteran suicide rate is the first part of a massive study involving 55 million veteran records from all 50 states and the various US territories. The United States average rate of suicide is 13 per 100,000, USA Today says, citing information from the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention.

The VA treated some 1.5 million veterans for mental health concerns in 2015, according to ABC News.KAKE reports that it seems isolation might be a concern in the veteran suicide rate.

Shanell Smith-Matlock, the first female member of the honor guard and an assistant chaplain who served with the United States National Guard, said that in the 10 years she served, she dealt with multiple veteran suicides.

“I dealt with an infantry unit here in our state and for about a period of two weeks for a whole summer we were losing a soldier due to some combat related issue,” Smith-Matlock said. “The problem that we have, isolation is the worst.”

The recently released numbers about the veteran suicide rate are just one facet of the report. The full report is set to be released in a few weeks’ time, and it is expected that the trends illustrated within the report by the VA will continue to be staggering.

It would seem that the veteran suicide rate is significant among those 50 and older. According to the numbers the VA released thus far, 65 percent of veterans of the over 7,400 who died in 2014 were over 50.

Mt. Vernon officers participated in the 22 push-up campaign w/ @JimOFarrell to raise awareness about Veteran suicide pic.twitter.com/TlbxjqqZqm

— Fairfax Co. Police (@fairfaxpolice) July 1, 2016

There are also concerns among younger male veterans. The veteran suicide rate among younger male soldiers between the ages of 18 and 29 is staggering, with an average of 86 out of 100,000 completing suicide. That is four times the average rate among active duty soldiers.

The veteran suicide rate among female soldiers 18 to 29 years of age is equally troubling. The veteran suicide rate among female veterans was 33 out of 100,000, which is more than double the national average. Shulkin said that further research should be done into whether or not proximity to combat situations or exposure to sexual trauma made the female veteran suicide rate more significant.

While veterans make up 8.5 percent of the United States population, they accounted for 18 percent of the national suicide rate. Sadly, the high veteran suicide rate is not unique to the United States. In Canada, 54 soldiers completed suicide after serving in the Afghanistan war, which claimed 158 lives overall, according to Globe and Mail.

The exact veteran suicide rate for Canadian soldiers is uncertain as the government of Canada does not track veteran suicides for either regular forces or reserve members.

“They don’t have a grip on the suicidal veterans,” former veterans ombudsman and retired colonel with Princess Patricia’s Canadian Light Infantry, Pat Stogran said. “If troops are coming out of the battlefield so damaged that they are going to kill themselves, to me it’s an extension of the conflict and it’s an extension of the Force-protection obligation.”

It is anticipated that the full report about the veteran suicide rate will be released in the coming weeks.

(Photo by Drew Angerer/Getty Images)