Military and Veteran suicide prevention

According to the 2023 Department of Veterans Affairs’ National Veteran Suicide Prevention Annual Report, the suicide rate among Veterans is more than 1.5 times greater than for the non-Veteran U.S. civilian population ages 18+. In 2021, suicide was the 13^th leading cause of death for Veterans and the second leading cause of death for Veterans under the age of 45.

Among service members, the suicide rate has risen gradually since 2011. Service members face a similar rate of suicide to the general U.S. population, but service members and their family members are more likely to die by suicide using a firearm.

Veterans are far more likely to own firearms than non-Veteran civilians, contributing to disproportionate rates of firearm suicide among Veterans. The firearm suicide rate among male Veterans was 62.4% than among non-Veteran civilians in 2021, and 281.% higher among women Veterans than among their non-Veteran peers in the same year.

For more information about firearms and suicide prevention, please see the toolkit A Toolkit for Safe Firearm Storage in Your Community created in partnership with the VA and NSSF.

There is no single cause of suicide among Veterans and service members, but it can be prevented by treating and preventing mental health and substance use conditions, promoting secure storage of firearms, and empowering Veterans and service members to live and thrive in their communities. AFSP supports a range of measures to support these goals, including policies supported at all levels of government.

AFSP supports policy initiatives to improve access to services and recovery for service members, Veterans, and their families. This includes expanding access to behavioral health care provided for service members through the Department of Defense and behavioral health care provided to Veterans through both the Veterans Health Administration and community care providers.

AFSP supports expanding access to mental health care, substance use treatment, and crisis response services for service members and their families. This includes supporting access to care for service members on military bases, service members on deployment, and military family members on base, through Tricare, and in schools administered by the Department of Defense Education Activity.

In addition to these and other policies to prevent suicide among service members, Veterans, and their families, AFSP strongly supports suicide prevention research for these communities and suicide risk screening to help identify and support individuals who may be at risk for suicide.

Please visit here for a list of recently passed federal legislation to help prevent suicide among service members, Veterans, and their families.

Veterans Crisis Line
988 Press 1 for access to the Veterans Crisis Line
24/7 Phone, chat, and text.
Additional services available for the deaf and hard of hearing.

Vets 4 Warriors
855-838-8255
24/7 confidential peer support network
Phone, chat, text, email for Veterans, service members, family members, caregivers

Psychological Health Resource Center
866-966-1020
24/7 phone, chat, email for service members, Veterans, family members, clinicians, commanders, or anyone with a question about psychological health in the military

Military One Source
800-342-9647
24/7 confidential phone and chat for Veterans, service members, and their families

TAPS National Military Survivor Helpline
800-959-TAPS (8277)
24/7 phone and chat for military families and loss survivors