1 Suicide Every 36 Hours

http://iava.org/blog/1-suicide-every-36-hours

1 Suicide Every 36 Hours

This week a congressionally mandated task force released its final report on military suicides to the Pentagon citing “heightened operational tempo, repeated deployments and insufficient quantity and quality of dwell time” as contributing to incredibly high suicide rates in the military.

The report noted that from 2005 to 2009, more than 1,100 servicemembers committed suicide—an average of 1 suicide every 36 hours. Suicide rates in the Marine Corps and Army have severely increased and the Army rate has more than doubled. Since 2001, 252 servicemembers have killed themselves in Iraq and Afghanistan.

The task force recognized efforts made by all military branches to prevent suicide, but concluded that they are a falling short because the programs are not centrally organized. The rush to respond to the challenge and the lack of strategic planning has led to unintended consequences. These include, inefficient programs and missed prevention opportunities.

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To end the suicide epidemic, IAVA continues to call on the VA and DoD to address this problem. We need a nationwide campaign to combat suicide and promote the use of DoD and VA services such as Vet Centers and the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline. The recently released task force report is a step in the right direction, but until there is a national campaign targeting every servicemember and veteran, many will continue to fall through the cracks.