ABSTRACT
Suicides among members of the US Armed Forces have more than doubled since 2004, with suicide now ranking as the second-leading cause of death among military personnel (Ramchand, Acosta, Burns, Jaycox, & Pernin, 2011). Historically, suicide rates among military personnel have been lower than the suicide rate among the US general population, although direct comparisons of the military suicide rate to the civilian suicide rate are complicated by a number of factors. First, there are considerable demographic differences between the military and general populations: the military as a whole is younger, and has a larger proportion of men and Caucasians, than the general population. Because age, gender, and race are important risk factors for suicide, appropriate adjustments must be made before comparisons can be made. Second, the procedures for reporting suicide-related data vary between geographic regions and states, and between states and the Department of Defense (DOD). As a result, available statistics for suicide attempts are not derived from standardized surveillance methods or databases. Related to this, suicide statistics are often reported on a monthly basis by the military in “real time,” whereas suicide statistics for the general population tend to lag a few years (i.e., the 2013 suicide numbers for the US general population will not be available until at least 2015 or 2016). Contextualizing recent trends in military suicides relative to the US general population is therefore difficult. Finally, because military personnel are included as a part of US general population statistics, military suicides may be counted twice, both in the military suicide rate and in the general population rate. Because of these issues, direct comparisons of the “military versus civilian” suicide rates are generally not feasible.
