ADOBE STOCK PHOTO EDITOR’S NOTE: This article includes discussion of suicide. If you or someone you know needs help, please call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 988.

As referenced in the U.S. Surgeon General’s recently issued advisory on firearm violence, veterans are at greater risk of becoming victims of suicide than the general population, a trend that continues to grow across the country and within Arizona, including in Graham County. In fact, Arizona’s veterans die of suicide at more than twice the rate of non-veterans. The Arizona Violent Death Reporting System, or AZ-VDRS, managed by Arizona State University’s Center for Violence Prevention and Community Safety as part of the CDC’s National Violent Death Reporting System, monitors violent deaths, including veteran suicide.

Data point to link between physical health and veteran suicides