A new national study published July 20 in JAMA Network Open found that suicidal thoughts among U.S. veterans have climbed nearly 50% over the past five years, even as the rate of actual suicide attempts has stayed relatively flat. Researchers from the VA's National Center for PTSD and the Yale School of Medicine surveyed 2,636 veterans and found that 13.4% reported suicidal thoughts in the prior two weeks, up from 9% in a 2019-2020 survey, according to Military Times.
The findings, first reported in detail by Stars and Stripes, also show that younger veterans and women veterans were more likely to report suicidal thoughts and behaviors than the broader veteran population. Perhaps most troubling: fewer than 37% of veterans who reported recent suicidal thoughts were actually receiving mental health care at the time.
A Widening Gap Between Distress and Treatment
The study's authors frame the gap between rising ideation and stagnant care access as a call to action, not a reason for alarm alone. Suicidal thoughts don't automatically become attempts, and the fact that attempt rates held steady suggests protective factors, community, purpose, structure, are still doing real work for a lot of veterans. But a near-50% jump in a population already at elevated risk means the systems built to reach veterans before a crisis point need to reach further, and reach earlier, than a clinic visit alone can manage.
That's where the research on movement and connection becomes relevant, not as a replacement for treatment, but as a companion to it.
Why Movement and Community Are Protective Factors
VA's own research has repeatedly pointed to structured exercise as a meaningful tool for veterans managing PTSD and depression, two of the strongest known risk factors for suicidal ideation. A study highlighted by VA Research found that veterans who engaged in regular aerobic exercise saw measurable improvements in PTSD symptoms, and VA's own guidance notes that something as simple as attending a fitness class a couple of times a month, and feeling connected to even one other person, can meaningfully lower suicide risk, according to VA News.
That's not a coincidence. A race on the calendar gives a veteran a reason to get up and train on a hard morning. A training group gives them people who notice when they don't show up. Crossing a finish line gives them proof, in a way words rarely do, that they're still capable of pushing through something difficult and coming out the other side. None of that replaces therapy or crisis intervention. It sits alongside it, as one more thread in the support system.
What This Means Right Now
If you're a veteran, service member, or first responder reading this and something in it resonates, the VA's guidance is clear: reaching out doesn't require enrollment in benefits, and the Veterans Crisis Line is available 24/7 by dialing 988 and pressing 1. Professional support comes first.
But building the ongoing, structural habits that protect long-term mental health, community, movement, a next goal on the calendar, matters too. That's the gap Operation WarriorFit exists to help close. If a free or discounted entry to a 5K, Spartan race, or triathlon could be the nudge that gets a veteran, service member, or first responder back into a training routine and a community that notices them, see if you're eligible.