#Health
Target:
Government
Region:
United States of America
Website:
www.facebook.com

* More veterans are committing suicide than are dying in combat.

*Veterans Affairs (VA) Statistics: Average of 18 vets commit suicide each and every day.

*Suicide rates researched by CBS new between 2004-2005...and the rates are raising fast...
Results 2004:
Overall Rates
Veterans: 17.5 to 21.8 per 100,000
Non-Veterans: 9.4 per 100,000
Male Rates
Veterans: 30.6 to 38.3 per 100,000
Non-Veterans: 18.3 per 100,000
Female Rates
Veterans: 10.0 to 12.5 per 100,000
Non-Veterans: 4.8 per 100,000

Results 2005:
Overall Rates
Veterans: 18.7 to 20.8 per 100,000
Non-Veterans: 8.9 per 100,000
Male Rates
Veterans: 31.5 to 35.3 per 100,000
Non-Veterans: 17.6 per 100,000
Female Rates
Veterans: 11.1 to 12.3 per 100,000
Non-Veterans: 4.5 per 100,000

*Troubling new data show there are an average of 950 suicide attempts each month by veterans who are receiving some type of treatment from the Department of Veterans Affairs...about 18 veteran suicides a day, about five by veterans who are receiving VA care.

*In fiscal 2009, which ended Sept. 30, there were 1,621 suicide attempts by men and 247 by women who served in Iraq or Afghanistan, with 94 men and four women dying.

We, the undersigned, call on the United States Government and the Department of Veterans Affairs to put in place mandatory counseling for our veterans during the out process of being discharged of no less then three months counseling, or more pending the individual.

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The Review Veteran Mental Health Care petition to Government was written by Bonnie Harmon and is in the category Health at GoPetition.