In Monday’s Eagle, we learned about the efforts underway at Butler VA Healthcare to save lives of men and women who have served their country.

The suicide rate among veterans is staggeringly high, and as much as 1.5 times higher than the already tragically high rate for non-veterans. More than 30,000 post 9/11 military veterans have died by suicide, according to a 2021 report by Brown University.

That report listed multiple potential factors for higher veteran suicide rates, including exposure to the trauma of combat, stress, difficulty readjusting to civilian life and access to firearms. But the post-9/11 era has added other risk factors, including an increase in traumatic brain injuries from exposure to improvised explosive devices and the fact advancements in medical treatment mean soldiers can be deployed multiple times, even if they are seriously wounded.

“The combination of multiple traumatic exposures, chronic pain, and lasting physical wounds is linked to suicidal behaviors,” the study’s authors wrote.

There is some good news. Will Rudd, a suicide prevention social worker for VA Butler Healthcare, said that the VA has seen a nationwide reduction of 5% in the veterans suicide rate since 2019.

There’s a long way left to go, but that is progress.

Part of the reason for the reduction is the VA’s approach to suicide prevention: a focus on immediate safety. Every department is responsible for screening the veterans they work with for suicide risk.

If a veteran is at risk, they meet with a behavioral health professional that day to make a plan to both stay safe in the short term and also developing a treatment plan. The safety planning is particularly important, because studies have shown that as many as 75% of suicide attempts are impulsive acts that progress from thought to action in an hour or less.

Making sure someone in crisis is safe means limiting their access to things they could use to harm themselves, including firearms, until the crisis has passed.

Rudd has more good news: None of the veterans in enhanced treatment with the Butler VA has died by suicide, so the intervention works.

There is not going to be one solution, because there is no single cause of suicide. It’s a complicated problem, but the work Butler VA Healthcare, and the VA in general, is doing has clearly made a positive impact, and that’s something worth celebrating.

— JK