Analyzing the annual suicide counts and rates among service members and their dependents, although painful, provides the focus for furthering the commitment made by Secretary of Defense Lloyd J. Austin III to prioritize the health, safety and well-being of our military community and develop long-term, sustained initiatives to prevent suicide.
Two and a half years ago, Secretary Austin established the Suicide Prevention Response and Independent Review Committee (SPRIRC). To guide the enabling of 83 key actions adopted and modified from the approved recommendations, he announced last September a suicide prevention campaign plan across five lines of effort:
Fostering a supportive environment
Improving the delivery of mental health care
Addressing stigma and other barriers to care
Revising suicide prevention training
Promoting a culture of lethal means safety
To date, 20 of the SPRIRC recommendations have been addressed, and the department has formulated an aggressive path forward with unprecedented investments for FY25. The goal is to combat current trends as assessed annually based on the number of suicide deaths per 100,000 people per year.
For the calendar reporting year of 2023, 523 service members died by suicide, which equates to a rate that was 9 percent higher than in 2022. Gradually increasing since 2011, the Active Component Suicide rate is also higher (12 percent) than in 2022. However, after accounting for age and sex differences, these rates in most years between 2011 and 2022 are similar to that of the U.S. population.
For the Reserve and Guard, there is no increasing or decreasing long-term trend between 2011 and 2022. Relative to 2022, the Reserve rate is 8 percent higher, and the National Guard rate is 5 percent lower.
Data sourced through death certificates is used in the reporting for families, which includes spouses and dependent children up to 23 years of age. This process creates a year's lag. In CY 2022, 146 family members died by suicide, including 93 spouses and 53 dependents. This represents a 9 percent decrease over recorded suicide deaths for military families in 2021.
The Annual Report on Suicide in the Military is posted at https://www.dspo.mil/, along with a wealth of videos and podcasts regarding various aspects of this complex and challenging issue.
AUSN is equally committed to suicide prevention. Through a simple log-in process, the AUSN Chaplains Resource Program enables members to connect directly with retired chaplains whenever needed.
Service members and veterans who are in crisis or having thoughts of suicide, and those who know a service member or veteran in crisis, can call the Veterans/Military Crisis Line for confidential support available 24 hours a day, seven days a week, 365 days a year. Call 988 and press 1, text 838225 or chat online at MilitaryCrisisLine.net.