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VA touts progress on suicides; data tell another story
http://www.navytimes.com/article/20140825/BENEFITS06/308250024/VA-touts-progress-suicides-data-tell-another-storyVA touts progress on suicides; data tell another story
Aug. 25, 2014 - 11:05AM |
By Dennis Wagner
USA Today
(snip)
The positive evaluations come despite VA findings that the number of veteran suicides began rising in 2007. They also come amid confusion over just how many veterans are taking their own lives.
A fact sheet published by the VA’s Suicide Prevention Program in 2012 reported 18 veteran suicides daily, while a “Suicide Data Report” issued by the same program in the same year put the number at 22. In 2013, the VA and Defense Department published a clinical-practice guide saying 18 to 22 die daily.
(snip)
But other evidence hints at the magnitude of the crisis. As of June 2012, the national VA Suicide Prevention Line was getting roughly 17,000 calls per month — up more than 17 percent from 2009. Four out of five were veterans seeking help, nearly one-third of them contemplating suicide.
(snip)