Families of soldiers who died by suicide hold signs in support of their loved ones during the Veterans Day Parade on Nov. 11, 2021 in New York City. (Photo by Spencer Platt/Getty Images) America’s military veterans make up about 6% of the adult population but account for about 20% of all suicides . That means that each day, about 18 veterans will die by suicide .

In the U.S., the overall rate of suicide has largely increased since the start of the millennium, but veterans are disproportionately represented among this tragic trend.

Each of these losses affects not only the individual but also their families, friends and co-workers. Thus, working to prevent suicide and its underlying causes is important not only to protect our loved ones but also to foster happier, safer communities.

We are a team of researchers at Arizona State University’s Center for Violence Prevention and Community Safety. We manage the Arizona Violent Death Reporting System, a surveillance system sponsored by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and part of the larger national surveillance system that operates in all U.S. states, Puerto Rico and Washington. We gather information on suicides through agreements with the Arizona Department of Health Services, medical examiners and law enforcement. Assessing risk amid uncertainty

Military veterans range from 18 years of age to more than 100, include both men and women, and represent diverse races and ethnicities. As of 2018, the largest veteran cohort were those who served during the Vietnam War, followed by those who served during peacetime only, the Gulf War and post-9/11 conflicts.

Identifying the true risk of veteran suicide, especially relative to the general population, is a surprisingly difficult task. In past decades, researchers and stakeholders debated about which figures were most accurate, those showing veterans at increased risk or those showing the opposite. Such debates often stemmed from methodological factors.

However, mounting evidence shows that veterans need targeted suicide prevention services, and our data backs this up. From 2015 to 2022, the age-adjusted suicide rates among male veterans in Arizona outpaced those of nonveterans by a factor of 1.49 to 1.88. Put […]

Military veterans are disproportionately affected by suicide, but targeted prevention can help