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The rate of suicide among military troops increased to its highest level in five years, according to a report released Thursday by the Pentagon.

The rate of suicide among active-duty troops was 24.8 per 100,000 people in 2018. In 2017, that figure was 21.9 per 100,000 troops. Five years ago, the suicide rate among troops was 18.5 per 100,000 service members.

A cluster of three suicides in less than a week among one ship's crew has shocked the United States Navy, raising questions about why the suicide rate in the service has climbed sharply in recent years, despite sustained efforts at prevention.

The three deaths were all sailors assigned to the aircraft carrier George H.W. Bush, which is in dry dock in Norfolk, Va., for extensive repairs.

A first-of-its-kind mental health survey of police, firefighters and 911 call dispatchers in Virginia finds that they experience suicidal thoughts at a rate of more than double the general population and that nearly a quarter suffer from work-related depression.

Federal and state lawmakers led a roundtable discussion Tuesday on suicide by military veterans as part of a series of panels held by state Sens. Mike Regan and Pam Iovino.

Attending were U.S. Reps. Conor Lamb, D-Mt. Lebanon, and Guy Reschenthaler, R-Peters, in addition to Mr. Regan, R-York, and Ms. Iovino, D-Mt. Lebanon. Mr. Regan chairs the state Senate Veterans Affairs and Emergency Preparedness Committee.

By the beginning of the following school year, the Palo Alto Unified School District had implemented a new policy: It put suicide prevention contact information on student IDs.

Innovative mental health centers in eight states will lose enhanced federal funding on Sunday for a Medicaid demonstration that enables them to offer a broad array of coordinated services for people with serious mental illness and substance use disorders.

The two-year, $1 billion certified community behavioral health clinic program (CCBHC), which enjoys bipartisan support, will end unless Congress quickly agrees to at least temporarily extend the funding.

Martha is an 18-year-old Latina college student from La Puente. She studies part-time and works part-time to support herself and her family. As the first in her family to attend college, she is a great source of pride for her loved ones. Yet, had a concerned friend not asked Martha if she was OK, we could be telling a very different story.

Watson Coleman is teaming up with celebrities and mental health advocates like actress Taraji P. Henson, who reached out to her and appeared before Capitol Hill lawmakers this month to discuss suicide among black children and recount her own struggles with mental health.