Suicide in the military

Suicide in the military is the act of ending one's life during or after a career in the armed forces.

A suicide prevention poster shows a photograph of three American soldiers with their arms around each other, facing away from the camera.
US army suicide prevention poster, 2012

While suicide rates in military organizations vary internationally, official statistics in several countries show a consistently higher risk in certain subgroups.

In the United Kingdom (UK), young serving personnel are markedly more likely than older personnel and same-age civilians to end their lives.[1][2]

The risk among former military personnel is higher than among either serving personnel or the general population, according to research in Australia, Canada, the UK, and the United States (US).[3][4][5][6][7] The risk is particularly marked among veterans who joined up at a young age.[3][5][8][6]

Contrary to popular belief, deployment to a war zone has not been associated with an increased risk of suicide overall, according to research in Canada, Denmark, the UK, and the US.[4][9][10][11][12] Participating in, or witnessing killing and wounding, however, can increase the risk.[12]

A study of the US army found that the career stage carrying the greatest suicide risk was not deployment, but initial military training,[13] as a time of disorientation and stress.[14]

Individuals most at risk of suicide during or after a military career include those who: had a troubled childhood;[10] are of low rank;[3][4][1][15][16] have close-combat roles in war;[4][17] and/or leave service soon after joining.[3][8][18] Certain other known risk factors for suicide are common in military life, including depression,[19] posttraumatic stress disorder,[20] alcohol misuse,[20][21] bullying[22][23][24][25] and sexual harassment.[26][27][28][29]

Variations in the suicide rate in military populations may also signify changes in the prevalence of related mental health problems, such as anxiety, depression, and histories of self-harm.[30]

  1. ^ a b Ministry of Defense (31 March 2022). "Suicides in the UK regular armed forces: Annual summary and trends over time" (PDF). gov.uk. Retrieved 26 August 2022.
  2. ^ UK Ministry of Defense (31 March 2022). "UK armed forces suicides: 1984 to 2021 data tables". gov.uk. Retrieved 30 August 2022.
  3. ^ a b c d Australian Institute of Health and Welfare (29 September 2021). "Serving and ex-serving Australian Defense Force members who have served since 1985: suicide monitoring 2001 to 2019". aihw.gov.au. Retrieved 26 August 2022.
  4. ^ a b c d Department of National Defense (11 May 2022). "2021 Report on Suicide Mortality in the Canadian Armed Forces (1995 to 2020)". www.canada.ca. Retrieved 30 August 2022.
  5. ^ a b Simkus, Kristen; Hall, Amy; Heber, Alexandra; VanTil, Linda (18 June 2020). "2019 Veteran Suicide Mortality Study". Veterans Affairs Canada. Retrieved 30 August 2022.
  6. ^ a b US Department of Veterans Affairs (Office of Mental Health and Suicide Prevention) (September 2021). "2001-2019 National Suicide Data Appendix". va.gov. Retrieved 30 August 2022.
  7. ^ US Department of Veterans Affairs (Office of Mental Health and Suicide Prevention) (September 2021). "2021: National Veteran Suicide Prevention Annual Report" (PDF). va.gov. Retrieved 30 August 2022.
  8. ^ a b Kapur, Navneet; While, David; Blatchley, Nick; Bray, Isabelle; Harrison, Kate (3 March 2009). Hotopf, Matthew (ed.). "Suicide after Leaving the UK Armed Forces —A Cohort Study". PLOS Medicine. 6 (3): e1000026. doi:10.1371/journal.pmed.1000026. ISSN 1549-1676. PMC 2650723. PMID 19260757.
  9. ^ Vedtofte, Mia S.; Elrond, Andreas F.; Erlangsen, Annette; Nielsen, Anni B. S.; Stoltenberg, Christian D. G.; Marott, Jacob L.; Nissen, Lars R.; Madsen, Trine (12 October 2021). "Combat Exposure and Risk of Suicide Attempt Among Danish Army Military Personnel". The Journal of Clinical Psychiatry. 82 (6): 20m13251. doi:10.4088/JCP.20m13251. ISSN 1555-2101. PMID 34644465. S2CID 238859228.
  10. ^ a b Pinder, Richard J.; Iversen, Amy C.; Kapur, Nav; Wessely, Simon; Fear, Nicola T. (July 2012). "Self-harm and attempted suicide among UK Armed Forces personnel: Results of a cross-sectional survey". International Journal of Social Psychiatry. 58 (4): 433–439. doi:10.1177/0020764011408534. ISSN 0020-7640. PMID 21693487. S2CID 17096673.
  11. ^ Armed Forces Health Surveillance Center (AFHSC) (June 2012). "Deaths by suicide while on active duty, active and reserve components, U.S. Armed Forces, 1998-2011". MSMR. 19 (6): 7–10. ISSN 2152-8217. PMID 22779434.
  12. ^ a b Reger, Mark A.; Tucker, Raymond P.; Carter, Sarah P.; Ammerman, Brooke A. (4 October 2018). "Military Deployments and Suicide: A Critical Examination". Perspectives on Psychological Science. 13 (6): 688–699. doi:10.1177/1745691618785366. ISSN 1745-6916. PMID 30286298. S2CID 52920340.
  13. ^ Ursano, Robert J.; Kessler, Ronald C.; Stein, Murray B.; Naifeh, James A.; Aliaga, Pablo A.; Fullerton, Carol S.; Wynn, Gary H.; Vegella, Patti L.; Ng, Tsz Hin Hinz; Zhang, Bailey G.; Wryter, Christina L.; Sampson, Nancy A.; Kao, Tzu-Cheg; Colpe, Lisa J.; Schoenbaum, Michael (1 July 2016). "Risk Factors, Methods, and Timing of Suicide Attempts Among US Army Soldiers". JAMA Psychiatry. 73 (7): 741–749. doi:10.1001/jamapsychiatry.2016.0600. ISSN 2168-6238. PMC 4937827. PMID 27224848.
  14. ^ McGurk; et al. (2006). 'Joining the ranks: The role of indoctrination in transforming civilians to service members', (in 'Military life: The psychology of serving in peace and combat [vol. 2]'). Westport: Praeger Security International. pp. 13–31. ISBN 978-0275983024.
  15. ^ Department of Defense (30 September 2020). "Annual suicide report" (PDF). Defense Suicide Prevention Office. Retrieved 26 August 2020.
  16. ^ Kang, Han K.; Bullman, Tim A.; Smolenski, Derek J.; Skopp, Nancy A.; Gahm, Gregory A.; Reger, Mark A. (February 2015). "Suicide risk among 1.3 million veterans who were on active duty during the Iraq and Afghanistan wars". Annals of Epidemiology. 25 (2): 96–100. doi:10.1016/j.annepidem.2014.11.020. ISSN 1873-2585. PMID 25533155.
  17. ^ Kessler, R. C.; Stein, M. B.; Bliese, P. D.; Bromet, E. J.; Chiu, W. T.; Cox, K. L.; Colpe, L. J.; Fullerton, C. S.; Gilman, S. E.; Gruber, M. J.; Heeringa, S. G.; Lewandowski-Romps, L.; Millikan-Bell, A.; Naifeh, J. A.; Nock, M. K. (November 2015). "Occupational differences in US Army suicide rates". Psychological Medicine. 45 (15): 3293–3304. doi:10.1017/S0033291715001294. ISSN 0033-2917. PMC 4860903. PMID 26190760.
  18. ^ Reger, Mark A.; Smolenski, Derek J.; Skopp, Nancy A.; Metzger-Abamukang, Melinda J.; Kang, Han K.; Bullman, Tim A.; Perdue, Sondra; Gahm, Gregory A. (1 June 2015). "Risk of Suicide Among US Military Service Members Following Operation Enduring Freedom or Operation Iraqi Freedom Deployment and Separation From the US Military". JAMA Psychiatry. 72 (6): 561–569. doi:10.1001/jamapsychiatry.2014.3195. ISSN 2168-622X. PMID 25830941.
  19. ^ Goodwin, L.; Wessely, S.; Hotopf, M.; Jones, M.; Greenberg, N.; Rona, R. J.; Hull, L.; Fear, N. T. (July 2015). "Are common mental disorders more prevalent in the UK serving military compared to the general working population?". Psychological Medicine. 45 (9): 1881–1891. doi:10.1017/S0033291714002980. ISSN 1469-8978. PMID 25602942. S2CID 3026974.
  20. ^ a b Inoue, Catarina; Shawler, Evan; Jordan, Christopher H.; Jackson, Christopher A. (2022), "Veteran and Military Mental Health Issues", StatPearls, Treasure Island (FL): StatPearls Publishing, PMID 34283458, retrieved 30 August 2022
  21. ^ Irizar, P; Leightley, D; Stevelink, S; Rona, R; Jones, N; Gouni, K; Puddephatt, J-A; Fear, N; Wessely, S; Goodwin, L (21 January 2020). "Drinking motivations in UK serving and ex-serving military personnel". Occupational Medicine. 70 (4): 259–267. doi:10.1093/occmed/kqaa003. ISSN 0962-7480. PMC 7305700. PMID 31961932.
  22. ^ Klomek, Anat Brunstein; Sourander, Andre; Gould, Madelyn (May 2010). "The Association of Suicide and Bullying in Childhood to Young Adulthood: A Review of Cross-Sectional and Longitudinal Research Findings". The Canadian Journal of Psychiatry. 55 (5): 282–288. doi:10.1177/070674371005500503. ISSN 0706-7437. PMID 20482954. S2CID 23962627.
  23. ^ Koeszegi, Sabine T.; Zedlacher, Eva; Hudribusch, René (April 2014). "The War against the Female Soldier? The Effects of Masculine Culture on Workplace Aggression". Armed Forces & Society. 40 (2): 226–251. doi:10.1177/0095327X12460019. ISSN 0095-327X. S2CID 145747427.
  24. ^ Østvik, Kristina; Rudmin, Floyd (1 January 2001). "Bullying and Hazing Among Norwegian Army Soldiers: Two Studies of Prevalence, Context, and Cognition". Military Psychology. 13 (1): 17–39. doi:10.1207/S15327876MP1301_02. ISSN 0899-5605. S2CID 40886078.
  25. ^ Cooper, Charlotte; Gee, David (27 May 2021). "Has the Time Come for an All-Adult Army?". rusi.org. Retrieved 30 August 2022.
  26. ^ British army (2015). "Sexual harassment report 2015" (PDF). gov.uk. Retrieved 8 March 2018.
  27. ^ Anderson, E H; Suris, A (2013). "Military sexual trauma". In Moore, Brett A; Barnett, Jeffrey E (eds.). Military psychologists' desk reference. Oxford: Oxford University Press. pp. 264–269. ISBN 978-0-19-992826-2. OCLC 828143812.
  28. ^ Hanson, Linda L. Magnusson; Nyberg, Anna; Mittendorfer-Rutz, Ellenor; Bondestam, Fredrik; Madsen, Ida E. H. (2 September 2020). "Work related sexual harassment and risk of suicide and suicide attempts: prospective cohort study". BMJ. 370: m2984. doi:10.1136/bmj.m2984. ISSN 1756-1833. PMC 7463167. PMID 32878868.
  29. ^ Kimerling, Rachel; Makin-Byrd, Kerry; Louzon, Samantha; Ignacio, Rosalinda V.; McCarthy, John F. (1 June 2016). "Military Sexual Trauma and Suicide Mortality". American Journal of Preventive Medicine. 50 (6): 684–691. doi:10.1016/j.amepre.2015.10.019. ISSN 0749-3797. PMID 26699249.
  30. ^ Mental Health Foundation. "Suicidal thoughts". www.mentalhealth.org.uk. Retrieved 30 August 2022.