Suicide and the Military

Sailor playing "Taps" during a Burial at Sea |
Released by U.S. Navy

Last year, more than 295 Americans died fighting in Afghanistan. However, this is surpassed by the number of servicemen, 349, who died by suicide (this includes those in active-duty and reserve). In fact, this was the highest total since the Pentagon began tracking suicides in 2001. Most of the men and women who took their own lives, 182, were active duty Army personnel. Among other active-duty troops, the Marines recorded 48 suicides, the Air Force had 59, and the Navy had 60. This has become such a problem in recent years that Defense Secretary Leon Panetta reported it as an "epidemic" before a congressional committee.

David Rudd, a military suicide researcher and professor at the University of Utah, is pessimistic about the short-term trend of increasing suicides. He separates victims into two categories: combat veterans who suffer from depression, post-traumatic stress, or substance abuse and servicemen who have not gone to war but are troubled by personal, financial, or legal problems. The latter accounts for about a third of military suicide victims. As a retired Army general noted, "stress, guns and alcohol constitute a dangerous mixture. In the wrong proportions, they tend to blow out the lamp of the mind and cause irrational acts." 

The Pentagon goes to great lengths to analyze the circumstances around suicide cases and found that most tended to involve enlisted men under the age of 25 and without a college education. Divorced service members were also found to be at an enhanced risk. Most suicides involved the use of firearms and many involved personnel with a personal history of behavioral problems.

Source: Flikr

Since suicides began escalating around 2009, the military has made a concerted effort to elevate suicide prevention and awareness. Despite this, a stigma remains in the difficulty for service members to find counseling, both while in active-duty and after they've begun the transition back into civilian life. Most are afraid that asking for help will be detrimental to their career, or simply won't admit to having a problem. In order to help this, Senator Patty Murray of Washington has pushed for measures to improve the military's mental health programs, education for chaplains and medics, and peer counseling that would match veterans of Afghanistan and Iraq with fellow combat veterans. Veterans may find their peers more accessible than professional counselors.

Listen to the interview of NPR Pentagon correspondent Tom Bowman, reporting at npr.org.

If you are a service member or a family member that needs help, contact the Military Crisis Line at 1-800-273-8255. If you're a family member who is suffering from the loss of a loved one and fallen service member, call the Tragedy Assistance Program for Survivors, or TAPS, at 800-959-8277.

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