Service organizations keep a close tab on the issue of suicides among those in the military and among veterans.

On Jan. 2, the Not Just a Number Act — a government grant program — was signed into law. It requires the Department of Veterans Affairs to take a more comprehensive look at ways to prevent suicide among veterans than it had been using.

It allows VA researchers to consider education, job training, housing, and other factors in order to understand what veterans face, and how to develop interventions and support systems.

VA recently published its annual National Veteran Suicide Prevention Report.

In 2022, there were 6,407 suicides among veterans, about 17 or 18 per day. That number was lower than 12 of the previous 14 years.

The age-adjusted suicide rate for male veterans rose 1.6 percent and the age-adjusted suicide rate among female veterans decreased 24.1 percent since the last study.

The Veterans of Foreign Wars National Veterans Service Director is Michael Figlioli. He believes one of the causes of the increase among the male vets was the COVID-19 pandemic and the psychological side effects it had on everyone when people felt helpless, isolated and lonely.

The VA reports access to benefits, proper care, compassion and community involvement would help in prevention.

The VFW believes its neighborhood posts can help with those things. Vets who are employed and have money for food are less likely to take their own lives. The VFW was one of the major VSOs and veteran nonprofits that supported the Not Just a Number Act.

The American Legion has a Veterans Affairs and Rehabilitation program. Its director, Cole Lyle, recently told Congress his VSO supported the VA’s Staff Sergeant Parker Gordon Fox Suicide Prevention Grant program that enables VA to provide resources to community-based suicide prevention efforts to meet the needs of veterans, including providing clinical service for emergency treatment.

Fox grants align with the Legion’s “Be the One” campaign and the “Buddy Check” program that activates its members to make direct contact with other Legion members and with other veterans in an effort to address the veteran suicide issue.

The Staff Sergeant Parker Gordon Fox Suicide Prevention Grant program and the Suicide Mortality Review Cooperative Agreements are two of the entities that were scheduled to be paused by the current administration, triggering a court challenge, then were unscheduled.

There are many factors that figure into a veteran’s decision to contemplate or attempt suicide, and the VA is trying to address those. The other veteran-related programs scheduled, then unscheduled, to be paused included: VA Supportive Services for Veteran Families Program; Veteran and Spouse Transitional Assistance Grant Program; and Legal Services for Veterans Grant Programs.

Other programs were State Veterans Home Care; Payments to States for Programs to Promote the Hiring and Retention of Nurses at State Veterans Homes; and Veterans Cemetery Grants.

The Legion also voiced its support for the What Works for Preventing Veteran Suicide Act. That requires a VA secretary to establish clear and measurable objectives for a suicide prevention pilot, and grant programs, carried out through the Veterans Health Administration.

Lyle himself uses VA healthcare and knows how other vets feel when they make appointments, navigate community care and make decisions. He called on the current 119th Congress to ensure VA’s direct care system is strengthened, and cited getting appointments — either within the VA or from outside community care — more quickly as a goal.

Access the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline by dialing 988.

The Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America group links its website to the Stop Soldier Suicide 24/7 program. Those needing suicide-specific care as a military service member or veteran may call Stop Soldier Suicide 24/7 at 844-951-2270 or submit a help request online at StopSoldierSuicide.org

That program says that military suicide has claimed more lives than America has lost in most major conflicts including World War I, the Vietnam War, and the Global War on Terror.

When speaking with a soldier in crisis, they recommend speaking openly and confidently, being aware of body language, being calm and compassionate while listening.

About a quarter of all veterans report having some difficulty readjusting to civilian life, but 44 percent of those who served after 9/11 find it challenging.

The VA says the most dangerous time for veterans is during the first three months after separating from the service and that those who were discharged because of a disability, disqualification, or misconduct are at a higher risk.

If a vet has a general, or other-than-honorable discharge, he or she is more likely to have anxiety, depression, post traumatic stress, or substance abuse. Those vets are three times as likely to have suicidal ideation than active duty personnel, and symptoms can last many years. Mental illness, having served less than four years, having less than a high school education, or having been demoted while in the military are other factors.

The Disabled American Veterans organization notes that of the 17 or 18 veteran deaths by suicide every day, 13 are from a self-inflicted firearm injury.

Putting space and time between a veteran in crisis and a firearm helps the situation. So the DAV supports the Lethal Means Safe Storage for Veteran Suicide Prevention Act. It creates a grant program to provide gun safes and lockboxes to veterans. It also mandates the VA and its Community Care Network get trained on how to speak about gun safety with veterans.

Vietnam Veterans of America Inc. would like to see Congress enact a law requiring death certificates to indicate whether the deceased person served in the military and require the VA to reimburse community providers for mental health care and treatment.

VVA said veterans often carry the “demons borne of the horrors of war” and that vets return from war zones to a society that does not know or understand what they went through. Vets may use alcohol or drugs to ease their pain.

Send news of service clubs and veterans organizations to Linda May at lindamay@ameritech.net or call landline 586-791-8116.