At least four U.S. Navy sailors assigned to the same facility in Virginia died by suicide in the last few weeks, including one as recently as Saturday, military officials and family members said.
It is the latest cluster of Navy suicides this year to spark concerns of a fleetwide mental health crisis.
The four sailors worked for the Mid-Atlantic Regional Maintenance Center (MARMC), which maintains military ships and is based in Norfolk, Virginia.
Many MARMC sailors have been struggling with personal issues that were exacerbated by a lack of mental health resources on the job and feeling overworked and undervalued by their leaders, according to a sailor who spoke with NBC News and Arestivo, who recently led four suicide prevention sessions at the site.
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“I was inundated with the amount of hopelessness at that command,” said Kayla Arestivo, a licensed counselor who was brought in two weeks ago to help the sailors in the unit.
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If you or someone you know needs help, please contact the National Suicide Prevention hotline at 988, or reach out to the Crisis Text Line by texting ‘Home’ to 741741, anytime.
