The Washington Post (10/8, Wax-Thibodeaux) “Federal Eye” blog reported that “female veterans die by suicide at nearly six times the rate as those with no service record,” because they use guns. Suicides among female veterans have reached “such an alarming number that mental health experts at the Department of Veterans Affairs say the agency is reaching out to former servicewomen to talk about gun safety.” Currently, “VA hospitals and clinics are offering free gun locks and education at every VA to ensure firearm safety…said” Caitlin Thompson, the VA’s deputy director for suicide prevention.

Related Links:

— “VA addresses suicide by gun problem among female veterans,” Emily Wax-Thibodeaux, Washington Post, October 8, 2015.

The New York Times (10/9, Sanger-Katz, Subscription Publication) reports in “The Upshot” that “more than 60 percent of people” in the US “who die from guns die by suicide.” Experts in public health “cite two reasons” why “guns are particularly dangerous.” First, firearms “are more lethal than most other methods people try,” and second, “suicide attempts often occur shortly after people decide to kill themselves, so people with deadly means at hand when the impulse strikes are more likely to use them than those who have to wait or plan.” Having a gun in the home “can make self-harm both easy and deadly.”

Related Links:

— “Gun Deaths Are Mostly Suicides,” Margot Sanger-Katz, New York Times, October 8, 2015.

Reuters (10/7, Seaman) reports that the prevalence of PTSD is far higher than originally thought in women veterans who served during the era of the Vietnam war, according to a study published online Oct. 7 in JAMA Psychiatry. Researchers arrived at that conclusion after examining data on 4,219 female service members who served in Vietnam, near Vietnam, and in the US from 1965 to 1973. Also covering the story are HealthDay (10/8, Dallas) and Medscape (10/8, Harrison).

Related Links:

— “PTSD common among female Vietnam-era veterans,” Andrew M. Seaman, Reuters, October 7, 2015.

Medscape (10/8, Harrison) reports that 78 percent of US adults “support mandated mental health coverage in health plans,” according to the results of “a cross-sectional national poll” published in the October issue of the journal Psychiatric Services, a publication of the American Psychiatric Association. The poll, to which 2,124 people responded, also found that “support is stronger when substance abuse treatment is not explicitly included in that coverage.”

Related Links:

— Medscape (requires login and subscription)

The Washington Post (10/8, Ross) “The Fix” blog reports that the ACA “has boosted the number of Americans with health insurance coverage but has not resolved the disparate way in which many insurers treat the costs of mental and physical health care, according to an April report (PDF) released by the National Alliance on Mental Illness.” The report found that Federal changes mandating parity between mental and physical healthcare benefits “do not, in practice, exist for the vast majority of Americans who are insured.” As the country struggles with a heroin crisis, researchers found that people “are struggling to find therapists and psychiatrists who participate in their health insurance plans. They also face more frequent coverage and treatment denials from their health insurance companies for mental health care than for other services and must clear multiple hurdles to maintain a steady supply of mental health care medication.”

Related Links:

— “Obamacare mandated better mental health-care coverage. It hasn’t happened.,” Janell Ross, Washington Post, October 7, 2015.