Military Probes Epidemic of Suicide

Abstract

WITH 3 DEPLOYMENTS UNDER his belt and a slot waiting for him in the US Army’s Drill Sergeant School, a 33-year-old sergeant first class stepped up his alcohol consumption and reported to friends and colleagues that he was having nightmares, slept with a gun under his pillow, and was depressed. About a month after he was supposed to have left for the training, he was found dead in his apartment from a gunshot wound to the head. This vignette was one of many included in a July Army report on suicide prevention that described how a multitude of interacting factors— such as job and personal stress, psychiatric conditions, and brain injuries— are contributing to a continuing epidemic of suicide among returning soldiers (http://usarmy.vo.llnwd.net/e1 /HPRRSP/HP-RR-SPReport2010_v00 .pdf). The report calls for a variety of interventions, including increased discipline and accountability by military leaders, efforts to reduce the stigma of seeking mental health care, and a more robust primary care effort to identify and treat these patients. The report is one of a number of efforts to examine this issue. Other recent reports by military scientists probe the high prevalence of conditions such as posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), mild traumatic brain injury (MTBI), and comorbidities and behavioral problems that may contribute to suicide in veteran and military populations and highlight barriers to affected soldiers accessing care. Since 2008, the rate of suicide in Army personnel, about 20 per 10 000, has exceeded that of the general population, which is about 19 per 10 000. Despite