Veterans Affairs officials tomorrow will announce a partnership with Florida State University on a major research project examining the troubling problem of military suicides, which have increased steadily over the past five years.
The suicide rate of the military now exceeds the national average of 11.1 suicides per 100,000 people, according to a Defense Department task force. Last year, the suicide rate of the military averaged 12.5.
The task force reported that 309 members of the military died from suicide last year, up from 267 in 2008.
From 2005 to 2009, more than 1,100 service members committed suicide, it said, an average of one suicide every 36 hours.
Earlier this year, at the 2nd Annual Department of Defense/Veterans Affairs Suicide Prevention Conference, VA Secretary Eric Shinseki expressed his frustration at the rising rate, saying that each of the VA’s 153 medical centers have suicide prevention coordinators who making counseling a priority.
On Wednesday, the Department of Veterans Affairs, the Denver VA Medical Center, the U.S. Army Medical Research and Materiel Command, and Florida State University will announce their collaboration on a military suicide research consortium.
Representing Florida State University will be psychology professor Thomas Joiner, considered a leading expert on the causes and prevention of suicide, and the author of “Why People Die By Suicide,” published by Harvard University Press in 2005.
Colleen O’Connor: 303-954-1083 or coconnor@denverpost.com
