Longtime VA psychologist shares research about veteran suicides and what more can be done to prevent them.
Russell Lemle is a senior policy analyst at the Veterans Healthcare Policy Institute who previously worked for 38 years as a psychologist in the San Francisco VA Health Care System. Since retiring, he has heavily focused on the issue of veteran suicide prevention, particularly through reducing access to lethal means.
To further amplify The American Legion’s Be the One mission to prevent veteran suicide, Lemle sat down for an interview. He discussed research relating to firearm suicide, the importance of reducing access to lethal means, and strategies for engaging with firearm-owning veterans on this issue. Additionally, Lemle also addresses the myth that VA confiscates veterans' firearms and the importance of correcting this misconception.
Lemle, whose father served in Europe during World War II, shared some key facts during the interview, including:
• Firearms account for half of all suicides in the U.S. and 73% of veteran suicide deaths.
• Research shows many suicide attempts are impulsive, with nearly half occurring fewer than 10 minutes after the decision is made. Lemle says reducing access to lethal means can save lives by creating more time and space during a crisis.
• Nearly two-thirds of survivors of suicide attempts never try again. And of those who do, only a small percentage go on to die by suicide, indicating that the intention is often transient.
This question-and-answer has been edited for clarity and brevity:
Question: You've spent a good part of your career at VA and now with the Veterans Healthcare Policy Institute. What does working on behalf of veterans mean to you?
Answer: It’s deeply, deeply meaningful to me. When I started working for VA in 1981, I quickly discovered there was a moral core to the entire VA health-care system. This is a system that is built to take care of our own — those who served. It’s important because these individuals have stepped up and served and sacrificed on behalf of all of us, and it's incumbent upon all of us to step up for them.
Question: Tell me about the recent research you conducted into firearm safety as it relates to suicide.
Answer: The article pulled together the history and science of firearm suicide prevention efforts. There were a couple things that were surprising. It was illustrative to see the studies that tracked survivors of serious suicide attempts. Two-thirds of those who survived never attempted again. And even the ones who do attempt again, it's only a small proportion that went on to die by suicide, meaning that even if somebody has a very strong intention to die in a moment, it's very often transient.
Other research found that nearly half of individuals who attempt suicide reported it was less than 10 minutes between the personal decision and when the attempt occurs. We’re talking about a very small window of time. If we can create more time and space so that individuals cannot access a highly lethal means, their chances of survival greatly increase. It’s how we can save lives.
Question: So, putting a firearm in a lockbox or storing it away from a person's home makes perfect sense to bridge that 10-minute gap. However, we know veterans and other gun owners often have firearms because they see them as protection whether they live in a high-crime area or in a rural area with bears and other predators around. How do you resolve that?
Answer: One of the reasons we're talking about firearms is that across the U.S., firearms account for half of all suicide deaths and 73% among the veteran population. It is far and away the most common means used when an individual dies by suicide. Whether you are a peer, a family member, mental health counselor, or really anyone in an individual's life, you have to use a collaborative decision-making approach that is nonjudgmental and curious. How does the individual think about protecting their family? Because in that sense, keeping them alive also represents protecting their family. The conversations have to be an exploration rather than a declaration. In other words, you can't tell somebody what they have to do unless they come to a shared understanding of why it’s personally important to find a way through. And if they can talk with others who have gone through suicidal crises, that’s a plus, because then they can relate to the notion that there may be hope if they get through this period.
Question: What is your call to action for veterans and their loved ones?
Answer: Frankly, the messenger is even important than the message. And the right messenger is a fellow firearm-owning veteran, or more broadly just a fellow firearm owner. So, there's a peer aspect to this rather than just professional counselors who are trained in effective ways to speak with individuals. It is important that these conversations become more embedded within the firearm-owning community.
The National Shooting Sports Foundation (NSSF) has had a formal partnership with VA since 2019. NSSF has websites and important material that they've developed for fellow firearm owners and those in the firearm industry. The basic principle is similar to what The American Legion is doing now with Be the One. You are trusted and credible messengers because of the peer aspect to your Be the One mission. It's essential from my perspective that we emphasize the messenger because the right message delivered by the wrong messenger often goes on deaf ears.
Question: Is there anything we haven’t discussed that you want to mention?
Answer: An important development from NSSF around firearm suicide prevention is they have published a fact sheet that corrects the misconception that the VA confiscates veterans’ guns. Why is this important? Because we know from surveys that a quarter of veterans believe the myth that if they go to the VA for mental health issues, their firearms will be confiscated. They're reluctant to go to the VA out of that fear and don’t get the mental health care and suicide prevention services they need. The fear is unfounded. The VA has never confiscated a single gun. (Read more and download the NSSF fact sheet here.)
- Be the One