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John Geis

Professor Dean Leonard

English.1201.1V3

20 March 2021

Why Are Suicide Related Deaths So Prevalent In The U.S Military?

Suicide has long been at the forefront of issue plaguing our Armed Forces, and for good

reason. In 2015, there were 266 suicide related deaths, in the Active Duty component of our

Military [ CITATION Pru19 \l 1033 ]. While the Department of Defense has mandated suicide

prevention programs, many of these programs have been ineffective at abolishing the issue of

suicide that claims so many lives.

Suicide rates in the Army stayed lower than the civilian suicide rate from 1977-2003.

Then, in 2004 the number of suicide related deaths in the Army skyrocketed. From 2004, through

2008, the number increased by 80%. It continued to increase for another four years, until 2012,

when the suicide rate leveled out[ CITATION Ere19 \l 1033 ]. Around the year 2000, the number of

military suicides spiked, as shown by the DODSER (Department of Defense Suicide Event

Report).

The most cited explanation for these suicide related deaths is stress. Most journals articles

mention stress in the opening paragraph. This is obvious, especially when referring to the year

2000, in which we would transition from the Cold War, to the War on Terror. Many articles

attribute mental health struggles and deployments as stressors that could result in a suicide

occurring[ CITATION And18 \l 1033 ].

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Another commonly cited statistic for military suicide is firearm related deaths. 62% of

military suicides in 2011 were attributed to firearms. Specifically, the Marines and Army have

been noted as having a higher percentage of firearm related suicide deaths, opposed to the Air

Force and Navy. It’s also notable that males have a higher percentage of suicide related deaths

via a firearm, than women[ CITATION And18 \l 1033 ].

Another variable that was discussed in many academic journals was rank. In particular,

the data has shown that lower level enlisted men and women, tend to have a higher risk for

suicide. Lower level means E-1 through E-4. A particularly nasty piece of data showed that in

2011, 70% of marines who took their lives, were enlisted servicemembers[ CITATION Jef12 \l

1033 ]. While this data has been backed up by many articles, this is something that will need to

be covered through multiple interviews.

Divorce was another common reason cited. Divorce rates are high in the military. One

reason forever linked to this is PTSD. A study of divorce rates in the Army from 2004 through

2008, shows a direct correlation of soldiers having PTSD incidents leading to divorce. The

source for this data came from a soldiers PDHA, which is the soldiers Post Deployment Health

Assessment. Keep in mind, these reports are information the soldier willingly shares. Meaning,

these numbers could be significantly higher. Many servicemembers do not report PTSD

incidents[ CITATION Neg12 \l 1033 ].

Suicide related deaths among military members have increased in the last 25 years. This

is clear due to the data collected by the DoD and servicemember alike. The DoD has responded

by launching suicide prevention programs. Still, these programs have not solved the issue, at

least entirely. Sadly, the suicide rate will never be 0%. With that being said, the current rate can
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certainly be decreased. Through an improvement of transitional support between deployments,

more readily available mental health programs, and closer observation of each servicemembers

needs. This issue can be combated.

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Works Cited

Anglemyer, Andrew, et al. “Suicide Rates and Methods in Active Duty Military

Personnel, 2005 to 2011: A Cohort Study.” Annals of Internal Medicine, vol. 165,

no. 3, Aug. 2016, pp. 167–174. EBSCOhost, doi:10.7326/M15-2785

Hyman, Jeffrey, et al. “Suicide Incidence and Risk Factors in an Active Duty US Military

Population.” American Journal of Public Health, vol. 102, no. S1, Mar. 2012, pp.

S138–S146. EBSCOhost, doi:10.2105/AJPH.2011.300484.

Negrusa, Brighita, and Sebastian Negrusa. “Home Front: Post-Deployment Mental

Health and Divorces.” Demography, vol. 51, no. 3, June 2014, pp. 895–916.

EBSCOhost, doi:10.1007/s13524-014-0294-9.

Pruitt, Larry D., et al. “Suicide in the Military: Understanding Rates and Risk Factors

Across the United States’ Armed Forces.” Military Medicine, vol. 184, Mar.

2019, pp. 432–437. EBSCOhost, doi:10.1093/milmed/usy296.

Watkins, Eren Youmans, et al. “Adjusting Suicide Rates in a Military Population:

Methods to Determine the Appropriate Standard Population.” American Journal

of Public Health, vol. 108, no. 6, June 2018, pp. 769–776. EBSCOhost,

doi:10.2105/AJPH.2018.304410.