 The Department of Veterans Affairs released sobering new statistics today about veteran suicide rates in the United States. Twenty veterans a day committed suicide in 2014, a trend made worse by high rates among young male veterans and the suicidal tendencies among female veterans, according to the VA. (Photo: Chip Somodevilla, Getty Images) 
 
 An average of 20 veterans a day committed suicide in 2014, a trend that reflects record high rates among young men fresh out of the military and growing numbers of women taking their lives, the first actual count of suicides among former service members shows. The 2014 count is the first slice of a massive examination of 55 million veteran death records dating back to 1979. By contrast, the overall U.S. suicide rate is 13 per 100,000 people, according to the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention. In 2010, veterans accounted for 22% of U.S. suicides and 9.7% of the population. From 2001 to 2014, the VA found, suicides among U.S. adult civilians increased 23 percent while veteran suicides increased 32 percent — making the risk of suicide 21 percent greater for veterans than civilians (after controlling for age and gender). And roughly 65 percent of all veteran suicides in 2014 were for individuals 50 years or older, many of whom spent little or no time fighting in the most recent wars. VA officials said in a statement that the information will allow them to “inform our suicide prevention programs and policies, especially for groups at elevated risk for suicide, including older and female veterans.” 
 
 Together, the numbers point to a significant mental health risk for individuals who served in the military, though the specific reasons remain unclear. The report said that since 2001, the rate of suicide among veterans who used VA services increased by 8.8 percent while the rate of suicide among veterans who did not use VA services increased by 38.6 percent. They include adding staff to the crisis hotline for veterans (800-273-8255), identifying veterans at high risk, increasing mental health counselors and expanding mental health therapy via telephone.
– The first official count of suicides among veterans is grim: 7,403 veterans committed suicide in 2014, or an average of 20 per day, according to Veterans Affairs, which reviewed data from every state. The group estimated there were 22 veteran suicides per day in 2010, but had never taken an official count, reports USA Today. The decline from the 2010 estimate is nothing to celebrate, according to David Shulkin, VA's undersecretary for health, who says the most recent number is "still far too high." Veterans accounted for 18% of all suicides in the US in 2014, though they made up just 8.5% of the population. About 65% of the veterans were 50 or older and 70% were not regular recipients of VA services, reports the Military Times. Among male veterans aged 18 to 29, the suicide rate was 86 per 100,000 people; the US suicide rate as a whole is 13 per 100,000. The rate for female veterans aged 18 to 29 was 33 per 100,000. Suicide rates among American females jumped 40% from 2001 to 2014 but 85% among female veterans. "It is difficult to understand why that is happening. It is one of the things that I think will become a central research question for us," says Shulkin, who hopes to discover whether sexual trauma or combat service increases a woman's suicide risk. The VA says it is "aggressively" tackling the suicide issue, including by offering same-day service to veterans with urgent mental health needs, per ABC News. A final report on veteran deaths since 1979 is due out in the coming weeks.