Understand the Suicide Risk for US Veterans

Learning Objectives

After completing this unit, you’ll be able to:

State key facts about the problem of Veteran suicide in the United States.
Describe key facts about Veteran suicide and factors that may increase risk.
Find VA resources for mental health, substance use, and suicide prevention.

Veterans in the US

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Out of 330 million Americans, fewer than 1% of the population currently serves in the Armed Forces. Veterans truly are the few, the proud, and the brave. Unfortunately, when service members return to civilian life they can experience reintegration struggles and feelings of isolation which too often can lead to thoughts of suicide.

In the US there are about 20 million Veterans, 2 million of whom are women. Only about 30 percent of veterans receive Veterans Affairs (VA) healthcare and less than half use any VA benefits or services.

Even though many Veterans don’t use any VA services, VA serves all Veterans and works with communities and organizations to prevent suicide among all veterans. It’s important to VA to reach as many Veterans as they can because engaging with VA is a protective factor against suicide for Veterans.

Veteran Suicide Data

Every year, VA publishes a National Veteran Suicide Prevention Annual Report. The report is an important look at Veteran suicide rates, trends, and risk factors. The most recent 2021 report includes findings from VA’s most recent analysis of Veteran suicide data from 2001 to 2019.

Since 2007, the average number of Veteran suicide deaths per day has remained around 17 to 18. While suicide is a rising national public health issue, the rate of suicide among Veterans was 52% higher than non-Veterans in 2019. And VA continues to improve its suicide prevention and awareness work.

More key findings from the 2021 Annual Report:

From 2001 to 2019, suicide rates were consistently higher among men than among women, both for Veteran and non-Veteran populations.
In 2019, rates of suicide were highest among younger Veterans (ages 18–34) and lowest among Veterans ages 55–74.
Despite comparatively lower rates, the highest absolute number of suicides was seen in Veterans between 55–74 years old. This group accounted for 38% of all Veteran deaths by suicide in 2019.
Firearm safety is a critical key to helping to prevent suicide. In 2019, 69.2% of Veteran suicide deaths were due to a self-inflicted firearm injury, while 47.9% of non-Veteran adult suicides resulted from a firearm injury.

Factors That Can Impact Veteran Suicide

There is no single cause of suicide. The problem of suicide reflects a complex interaction of factors placing strain on individuals at the international, national, community, familial, relational, and individual levels.

Risk factors for suicide include:

A prior suicide attempt
Isolation
Mental health conditions such as depression
Homelessness
Availability of firearms and other lethal means

Protective Factors Against Suicide

Protective factors can help offset risk factors. These are characteristics associated with a lesser likelihood of suicidal behaviors. Some protective factors for suicide include having positive coping skills, having reasons for living or a sense of purpose in life, feeling connected to other people, or accessing mental health care.

Veterans may possess unique protective factors related to their service, such as resilience or a deep sense of belonging to a unit. However, sometimes this camaraderie found in the service means that when they leave the service, a Veteran can feel more isolated than ever before.

Use the S.A.V.E. Method to Identify and Help At-Risk Veterans

You can play an important role in preventing Veteran suicide by using the S.A.V.E. method.

S.A.V.E. stands for:

Signs of suicide (know them)
Ask about suicide
Validate the Veteran’s experience
Encourage help and Expedite treatment

Learn more by watching this free, 18-minute course by PsychArmor in partnership with VA. You can also watch the video for free on the PsychArmor website.

Are you a Veteran in crisis or concerned about one? Connect with the Veterans Crisis Line to reach caring, qualified responders with the Department of Veterans Affairs. Many of them are Veterans themselves. For confidential support, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year.

Call 1-800-273-8255 and Press 1
Chat online
Text 838255

VA Is Committed to All Veterans

To advance the goal of eliminating Veteran suicide, VA and its stakeholders are dedicated to preventing suicide among all Veterans, whether or not they’re receiving benefits or services from VA. Since the Suicide Prevention Program launched in 2007, VA has been leading innovative, research-driven suicide prevention efforts.

Suicide Prevention Is VA’s Top Clinical Priority

The Veterans Health Administration is the largest integrated healthcare system in the country, providing care at more than 1,200 healthcare facilities and serving nine million enrolled Veterans each year. Over the past decade, the administration has implemented numerous programs, policies, and initiatives related to suicide prevention, VA’s top clinical priority.

Developing and Sharing Suicide Prevention Resources

Hundreds of organizations at the national and local levels, including the US Department of Defense (DoD), partner with VA on suicide prevention. These organizations help raise awareness of VA’s suicide prevention resources and educate people about how they can support Veterans and service members in their communities.

VA works continuously to expand suicide prevention initiatives, including bolstering mental health services for women, broadening telehealth services, developing free mental health apps, using telephone coaching, and improving mental health screening and treatment at VA health centers.

VA’s comprehensive and long-term approach to preventing Veteran suicide is based on science and is designed to be accessible to all Veterans and stakeholders, including spouses. They cannot do it alone. We all have a role to play in preventing Veteran suicide. We ask everyone to join the commitment to support the Veterans in your community. In turn, VA promises to provide best-in-class, evidence-based resources, tools, and education to help you do it. In the next two units, we dive into all these materials.