Ever since the public consciousnesses has been directed to veteran suicide statistics people have used numbers as their mantra. For a long time, that was 22 deaths per day. Then it shifted to 20 per day. It looked like we were making strides to end this epidemic.
Today I read several articles revolving around suicide and veterans. They all used 2017 as their reference point as that is the last year for which statistics are available. The findings are sobering: Veteran suicide was up by 129 people from 2016.
However, in a move that would make George Orwell proud, the VA has declared that veteran suicides are now down to 17 per day. How can this be you might ask? If you take out active duty service member suicides, as well as former Guard and Reservists, the pool of eligibles shrinks. They don't qualify as "veterans". It's simple VA math.
One fact hasn't changed however. Suicide among veterans is higher than the rest of the population. In 2017 it was 1.3 times higher for men; 2.2 times higher for women.
Take your pick: 22. 20. 17.
Even one is too much no matter how you do the math.
