Military moves to improve mental health care access as suicides remain high

AXIOS May 5, 2023
Sareen Habeshian

The Department of Defense on Friday signed a long-awaited policy to make it easier for service members to access mental health care.

The big picture: The policy implements the Brandon Act, signed into law by President Biden in 2021, as the military continues to grapple with mental health issues and suicide within its ranks.

• Suicide rates among the U.S. military increased by 41.4% from 2015 to 2020.
• Despite the number dropping in 2021, the most recent year for which there is data, 519 service members died by suicide that year.
• Between 2016 to 2020, more than 456,000 active-duty service members were diagnosed with at least one mental health disorder, per DOD data cited by the Congressional Research Service.

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