ABSTRACT
The suicide rate among active duty military personnel in the United States (US) Armed Forces doubled and became the second leading cause of death in the US military. As the military suicide rate increased, the US general population suicide rate increased as well, although this growth was much smaller in magnitude. There are multiple risk factors and variables that have contributed to the rise in the US military suicide rate. A systematic review examining military sexual trauma (MST) and suicide found two studies in which MST was significantly associated with an increased risk for suicidal behaviors and suicide attempts. In recent years, there has been increased attention on the occurrence of active duty personnel with traumatic brain injury (TBI) secondary to combat activities as a significant number of Army personnel who were deployed to Iraq and Afghanistan have experienced a TBI. Studies examining the relationship between deployments, combat exposure, and suicide risk within military personnel have had inconsistent findings.
