Senators Search for Ways to Reduce Suicide Among Veterans

U.S. Sens. Richard Blumenthal and Chris Murphy met with doctors and mental health professionals with the Veterans Administration on Friday to brainstorm ways to reduce the suicide rate among veterans.

“There has to be more for us to do,” Blumenthal said at the forum in West Haven.

The group of about a dozen spoke for an hour on issues relating to returning veterans and their mental health needs.

“There’s a consensus that if we get them in the [VA] system, then the rate of suicide goes down,” Murphy said during the group discussion.

Doctors who work with veteran patients echoed that sentiment.

“One of the things we need is access to good mental health. If you're going to be treating a much larger veteran population then you need to have adequate mental health services” said Ismene Petrakis, chief of the Mental Health Service Line.

Doctors also said more public awareness about services that are already available would be very helpful.

On average, 22 veterans commit suicide every day according to the VA.

About 18 percent of all suicides in Connecticut from 1999 to 2010 were veterans, according to the VA.

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