The first thing I'll say is that the factors that lead to what I call that “suicide pathway” are similar for veterans and for any member of the general Canadian population. The first factor is that almost all people—90% or more—likely have a mental health problem at the time they commit suicide. This finding is from international research; it's one of the most robust findings we have. It's a very important factor. It's why when we are doing work to prepare suicide prevention strategies, a lot of that work does focus on good mental health care and on getting people into care, because we know it's one of the factors that's consistently there. The other factor that is usually present right before the suicide is some stressful life event. Often it is something like a relationship breakup, or perhaps the person has run into trouble with the law or has lost their job. It's usually related: it's relational, and it's to do with a loss. This person has a mental illness—usually there's some depression in that mental health problem—and then they have this crisis, this loss, that happens. That sets them off starting to think about suicide.
There are a number of other factors that we know contribute to this. This access to lethal means is a really important factor. We know from public health research that the easier the access is.... Often people do this impulsively. Often, if people can be stopped from committing suicide today, and especially if help is provided, they will not go on to commit suicide.