A gun and a liquor bottle in the foreground with a person seated in a shadow in the background. (Joshua J. Seybert/U.S. Air Force)

WASHINGTON — The number of veteran suicides continued to hold steady in 2022 despite an infusion of $13.5 billion in funds for mental health services for former service members, according to newly released findings from the Department of Veterans Affairs.

Veteran suicides rose to 6,407 for calendar year 2022, up by three from the previous year, according to the VA’s 2024 National Veteran Suicide Prevention Annual Report that examined suicides by population groups of veterans.

The report showed firearm deaths contributed to most veteran suicides — used in 75% of suicides by male veterans, up 2% from the previous year. Firearms were used in about 45% of suicides among female veterans, down 6% from 2021, the VA said.

Firearms account for more suicides among veterans than in the non-veteran, general population, according to the report. From 2021 to 2022, the percentage of veteran suicides involving firearms increased about 7%.

Overall, the suicide rate among male veterans was up 1.6% in 2022 but the rate among women dropped significantly — by about 24%. The suicide rate increase for male veterans was comparable to the general population. But the suicide rate among women in the general population went up by more than 5%.

Suicide rates were down among veterans who are homeless but showed an increase among former service members with certain serious psychiatric disorders.

Rah-jaunn Dorsey, 49, a former Navy seaman, said Thursday that he has struggled with homelessness and thoughts of suicide since his military service from 1998 to 2000.

Rah-jaunn Dorsey, 49, a Gulf War Navy veteran, rests Thursday, Dec. 19, 2024, in his tent outside of Progress Place in Silver Spring, Md., a facility owned by Montgomery County offering food, showers, prescription assistance and other resources to homeless people. Progress Place houses Shepherd’s Table, which provides hot meals daily to people who need them. (Eric Kayne/Stars and Stripes)

Dorsey, who was camped outside the Shepherd’s Table soup kitchen in Silver Spring, Md., said worsening psychiatric problems made it difficult for him to navigate the VA system to qualify for health care and other benefits related to his depression and post-traumatic stress disorder, a condition that afflicts people who have experienced terrifying events.

Veterans diagnosed with PTSD are at higher risk of death from suicide and accidental injury, according to the National Institutes of Health.

“I’ve been trying to apply for all types of assistance but getting nowhere. It’s hard to get anything done,” he said.

Dorsey said he now receives assistance at a county resource center with prescription medications, where a caseworker is trying to help him get housing and qualify for VA care.

Another veteran standing outside the Shepherd’s Table said he thinks some former service members just need to be better directed to care.

The 58-year-old former Army sergeant, who declined to use his name, said he sees a lot of veterans on the streets with mental health and addiction problems.

“Some of these guys are psychotic and need extra help getting their care,” he said. “They’re lost.”

In 2022, the VA launched several efforts to address suicide among veterans, including a 988+1 crisis line for immediate assistance. Nearly one million veterans contacted the crisis line in 2022, which included phone calls, texts and chats.

The VA also expanded support for suicidal veterans that includes free health care, regardless of whether the veteran is enrolled in VA health care. The VA provides free emergency care at VA and non-VA facilities for veterans in acute suicidal crisis, according to the agency. More than 85,000 veterans sought help in 2024.

The VA’s budget request for programs to address the mental health needs of veterans has been on a steady climb, increasing from $13.5 billion in fiscal 2022 to $17.1 billion for fiscal 2025.

“There is nothing more important to VA than ending veteran suicide,” VA Secretary Denis McDonough said. “We will learn from this report to better serve veterans and save lives.”

But Rep. Mike Bost, R-Ill., who is chairman of the House Veterans’ Affairs Committee, raised questions about the VA’s effectiveness in stemming veteran suicides despite funding increases for programs.

Rep. Mike Bost, R-Ill., who is chairman of the House Veterans’ Affairs Committee, raised questions about the VA’s effectiveness in stemming veteran suicides despite funding increases for programs. (Eric Kayne/Stars and Stripes)

“Our veteran community continues to battle an epidemic caused by the invisible wounds from their service in uniform,” Bost wrote in a letter to McDonough prior to the report’s release. “It is unfathomable that the mental health budget has increased by billions, but the suicide rate has not budged.”

As a response to veteran mental health needs, the VA has eliminated co-payments for the first three mental health care visits each year, increased its workforce of clinicians by 27% since 2020 to more than 30,000, and provides night and weekend appointments at many locations, said Mark Ledesma, spokesman at the Veterans Health Administration.

In 2022, suicide rates for veterans with other psychotic disorders rose about 14% from the prior year. These are veterans experiencing serious psychiatric disorders but do not have a diagnosis of bipolar disorder or schizophrenia.

The suicide rate for veterans diagnosed with a sedative-use disorder rose in 2022 by nearly 30%. Sedatives are defined as prescription drugs that include Valium, Xanax and Ativan, which commonly treat anxiety, insomnia and seizure disorders.

The report also a highlighted a 19% drop in suicides among homeless veterans in 2022. The VA housed more than 40,000 homeless veterans for the calendar year.

The overall number of 6,407 veterans suicides in 2022 is lower than 12 of the previous 14 years, the VA said, but more than in 2021. By contrast, there were 41,484 suicides in the general population, which was 1,476 higher than in 2021. The average number of suicides per day in the non-veteran general population was 131.2 compared to an average 17.6 among veterans, the VA said.

The VA described the annual report as critical to informing public health strategy for addressing suicide risks among veterans. It represents the nation’s largest national analysis of veteran suicide rates annually, the agency said.

The VA also provided numbers from 2001 to 2022 showing a long-term decline in suicides rates among veterans with certain mental illnesses who were receiving their care at the VA. Suicide rates fell by 34% for veterans with depression and by 31.6% for veterans with PTSD.