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VA Suicide Hot Line

The toll-free hot line number is 1-800-273-TALK (8255). 

The Department of Veterans Affairs has established a Suicide Hot Line  to ensure veterans with emotional crises have round-the-clock access to  trained professionals. 

NCOA applauds this action with the regret that

the Suicide Hot Line was not established sooner!   The NCOA Executive Director for Government Affairs Richard Schneider stated that veterans seeking professional mental health services must be taken care of  24/7  (any hour of the day or night).

Secretary of Veterans Affairs Jim Nicholson wants every veteran and their  family members to know that VA Mental Health Professionals are just a phone call away and that for many who experienced the stresses of combat may have wounds on their minds as well as their bodies.

VA’s hot line will be staffed by mental health professionals in Canandaigua, N.Y. 

They will take toll-free calls from across the country and work closely with local VA mental health providers to help callers.

To operate the national hot line, VA is partnering with the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration of the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) to provide referral and assistance to veterans. 

The hot line will put veterans in touch – any time of the day or night, any day of the week, from anywhere in the country – with trained, caring professionals who can help.  Schneider emphasized that for the telephone referral program to work effectively that veterans must be honest in conveying their need and urgency for assistance.  Most veterans even when seriously impacted by mental or physical issues seem to minimize their problems which he noted could be to their disadvantage.