Women Veterans: The Journey to Mental Wellness is a comprehensive assessment of the unique factors contributing to the staggering rates of suicide among women veterans. According to data released by the VA in November 2023, the suicide rate among women veterans jumped 24.1% between 2020 and 2021—nearly four times higher than the 6.3% increase among male veterans and vastly higher than the 2.6% increase among nonveteran women.
Women Veterans: The Journey to Mental Wellness shows that key factors, including high rates of military sexual trauma and intimate partner violence, substance use disorders and reproductive health challenges, put women veterans at higher risk for suicide.
An even more vulnerable time for women veterans is during menopause. According to the report, this period corresponds to the highest rates of suicide in U.S. women.
Usually beginning between ages 45 and 55, menopause comes with fluctuations in hormone production and is often accompanied by a variety of symptoms, including hot flashes, sleep disruption, body aches, weight gain, incontinence and memory problems. Menopause has also been shown to raise the risk for depression in U.S. women twofold, the report notes.
Read more at DAV.org.
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