The number of calls to the Veterans Crisis hotline in September was higher than in each of the previous three years.
There were 58,353 calls to the hotline last month, according to data provided to the Washington Examiner from the Department of Veterans Affairs.
Veterans, over the last month and a half, had to grapple with the conclusion of the War in Afghanistan, which ended with the Taliban in control of the Afghan government again and Americans left behind, in addition to the 20th anniversary of the 9/11 terrorist attacks.
There were 57,676 calls to the hotline in Sept. 2020, up from 56,683 in Sept. 2019, per the data. There were 50,023 calls in Sept. 2018, which demonstrates a roughly 16% increase from then to Sept. 2021.
The Department of Defense released its annual suicide report last week, which found that 580 service members took their own lives in 2020. That number was also an increase from previous years.
There were 504 suicides in 2019 and 543 the year before, though the overall pool of service members fluctuated. DoD’s tally does not include veterans, who have been plagued by mental health issues and suicides.
“This is a paramount challenge for our Department,” Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin said in regards to the report. “We must redouble our efforts to provide all of our people with the care and the resources they need, to reduce stigmas and barriers to care, and to ensure that our community uses simple safety measures and precautions to reduce the risk of future tragedies.”
Various officials have pointed to “connectivity” as a way to reduce the number of suicides.
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Each of the seven living former Veterans Affairs secretaries sent a letter to Congress earlier this week urging them to pass a resolution that would designate Nov. 21 as the first annual “National Warrior Call Day.”
The initiative encourages veterans to reach out to one another to ensure they’re in good places mentally.
