Suicide Prevention Hotline Awareness Campaign Launched by the VA

The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) announced a new advertising campaign to promote its Suicide Prevention Hotline. Nearly 1,200 advertisements are scheduled to placed on bus shelters, city buses, and rail and subway stations.

The VA's Suicide Prevention Hotline was created in 2007, and is credited with saving the lives of more than 10,000 veterans. Additionally, counseling via the hotline has been provided to more than 180,000 veterans and their family members. The hotline is available seven days a week, 24 hours a day, and is staffed by trained mental health professionals.

Says VA Secretary Eric Shinseki, "I know of one Veteran who saw these signs on a bus shelter, called the hotline, and came to the VA for help that same day. There are thousands of other Veterans like him who are still with us today as a direct result of the hotline."

The announcement of the campaign comes on the heels of a report from the Department of Defense Task Force on the Prevention of Suicide by Members of the Armed Forces. The report noted that 1,100 servicemen and women committed suicide between 2005 and 2009. To put this in perspective, one servicemember took his or her life every 36 hours. These numbers reflected a sharp increase in suicide rates from previous years--something the VA and DoD aim to reverse by raising awareness of programs like the VA's Suicide Prevention Hotline.

The advertising campaign will continue through January 9, 2011. For more information about the VA's efforts to promote awareness of the Suicide Prevention Hotline, refer to the Department of Veterans Affairs' Press Release: VA Taking Life-Saving Campaign to Streets.

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