Military leaders have made lowering the suicide rate one of their top priorities. Each day one active duty soldier kills himself, twice the amount of combat related deaths or those of the civilian population (Frances 1). From 2001 to 2006 the United States suicide rate rose from 10.7 per 100,000 to 11.1 per 100,000 (Mastroianni, Scott 6). In perspective, the veteran average rose from 9.0 per 100,000 to a high 19.3 per 100,000 during the same time period (Mastroianni, Scott 6). One study showed that male veterans, ages 17-24 years old, had four times the risk of suicide than men without a military service record (Gibbons, Brown, and Hur S18). More should be done to lower the veteran suicide rate because more veterans die from suicide than die in …show more content…
Veterans Affairs (VA) opened a Center of Excellence at Canandaigua, New York to serve as a national, regional, and local resource on suicide prevention and mental health. With these great intentions, the VHA has increased staffing by 36.7% from 2005 to 2009, which allowed the rate to only rise 0.8 per 100,000 for veterans who used VHA services (Katz et al. 620-621). Veterans of Operation Enduring Freedom and Operation Iraqi Freedom are eligible for five years of free VA health care (York et al. 229). Some of this health care uses the advancement of telecommunications, the Veterans Crisis Line is just one example. The crisis line allows access to a website and social networking links (York et al. 229). The VA also uses in-home messaging devices, video conferencing, and videophones in homeless shelters and halfway houses. With all these abilities to speak thousands of miles apart, the VHA has enabled veterans who live a considerable distance from VA hospitals to receive timely health care. Veterans who live in rural areas are less likely to travel for VHA health