The rate among soldiers was nearly double that of sailors, DOD’s annual suicide report found.-
BY CAITLIN M. KENNEY, DefenseOne,
The suicide rate for active-duty troops rose to 28.7 per 100,000 last year, up from 26.3 the previous year, according to the latest edition of an annual Defense Department report. This is the highest rate since the Pentagon began keeping detailed records in 2008.
The year-over-year change to the suicide count is not “a huge increase” but the increase to the rate over time is “cause for concern and there needs to be renewed focus to specific suicide-prevention intatives,” said Julie Cerel, who leads the Suicide Prevention and Exposure Lab at the University of Kentucky. “What they have been doing hasn’t been working and they need to do something different and more sustained.”
Counting deaths by suicide is not an exact science, and official tallies can change as new information emerges. In statistical terms, the figure given as each year’s rate represents the midpoint of the 95%-confidence range. That’s why Karin Orvis, who leads DoD’s Defense Suicide Prevention Office, said the rates in 2019 and 2020 are “statistically comparable.”
But Orvis also noted that the increase over the past six years is statistically significant, from 20.3 per 100,000 active troops in 2015 to 28.7 last year.
As well, the report notes that “the active component suicide rates significantly increased for all the services” from 2011 to 2020. Earlier DoD reports noted rates of 16.9 per 100,000 in 2008 and 17.52 in 2010.
Orvis spoke during a Sept. 30 news briefing in which the report, “Calendar Year 2020 Annual Suicide Report,” was released by the Office of the Under Secretary of Defense for Personnel and Readiness. The 100-page document tracks deaths by suicide among service members and dependents. It also tracks Pentagon efforts to prevent suicide by providing resources and training to troops and families.
Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin called the findings of the report “troubling.” The increase in rates is occurring amid an effort by the Pentagon and Congress to increase suicide prevention programs and mental health support.
“As I have said, mental health is health—period. We must all do more, at every level, to end the stigma against getting help. We all need counsel, community, and connection. Reaching out is a sign of strength and resilience,” Austin said in a prepared statement Sept. 30.
In absolute numbers, 384 active-duty service members died by suicide last year. Including reservists and National Guardsmen, the toll numbered 580.
But the best way to understand the prevalence of deaths by suicide in the military population is its rate per 100,000 people, because the number of suicides alone does not reflect changes in population size, Army Maj. Gen. Clement Coward, the acting executive director of the Office of Force Resiliency for the Under Secretary of Defense for Personnel and Readiness, said at the briefing.
Only the active-duty force saw a statistically significant increase in the suicide rate from 2016 to 2020. The rate among reservists and National Guardsmen stayed statistically flat, the report said.
