Abstract
Although military and Veteran suicide rates have recently been highlighted as a precarious problem that needs more attention, it is not a new phenomenon. In 2008, suicide deaths among US Army Active Duty personnel surpassed that of the adjusted national civilian average (Kuehn B, JAMA 301(11):1111–1113, 2009). Historically, reactions and programmatic resolutions to this problem have been introduced on small- and large-scale levels within the military. Attempts to better organize and centralize information on military suicide data, prevention programs, and the latest theories may help to better inform new efforts to develop research and clinical programs. A detailed understanding and critique of current programs will be introduced, and other alternatives will be explored in this chapter.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Adams D, Barton C, Mitchell G, Moore A, Einagel V. Hearts and minds: suicide among United States combat troops in Vietnam, 1957–1973. Soc Sci Med. 1998;47(11):1687–94.
Albano S. Military recognition of family concerns: revolutionary war to 1993. Armed Forces Soc. 1994;20(2):283–302.
Ayer L, Ramchand R, Geyer L, Burgette L, Kofner A. The influence of training, reluctance, efficacy, and stigma on suicide intervention behavior among NCOs in the Army and Marine Corps. J Prim Prev. 2016;37(3):287–302.
Beardslee WR, Klosinski LE, Saltzman W, Mogil C, Pangelinan S, McKnight CP, Lester P. Dissemination of family-centered prevention for military and veteran families: adaptations and adoption within community and military systems of care. Clin Child Fam Psychol Rev. 2013;16(4):394–409.
Berman A, Jobes D, Bradley J, Kemp J, Carroll B, Litts D, …, Werbel A. The challenge and the promise: Strengthening the forces, preventing suicide, and saving lives. Final report of the Department of Defense Task Force on the prevention of suicide by members of the armed forces. 2010. Retrieved from https://www.sprc.org/sites/default/files/migrate/library/2010-08_Prevention-of-Suicide-Armed-Forces.pdf
Britt TW, Wilson CA, Sawhney G, Black KJ. Perceived unit climate of support for mental health as a predictor of stigma, beliefs about treatment, and help-seeking behaviors among military personnel. Psychol Serv. 2020;17(2):141–50.
Bryan CJ, Jennings KW, Jobes DA, Bradley JC. Understanding and preventing military suicide. Arch Suicide Res. 2012;16(2):95–110. https://doi.org/10.1080/13811118.2012.667321.
Comtois KA, Kerbrat AH, Decou CR, Atkins DC, Majeres JJ, Baker JC, Ries RK. Effect of augmenting standard care for military personnel with brief caring text messages for suicide prevention. JAMA Psychiat. 2019;76(5):474. https://doi.org/10.1001/jamapsychiatry.2018.4530.
Crawford MJ, Sharpe D, Rutter D, Weaver T. Prevention of suicidal behaviour among army personnel: a qualitative study. J R Army Med Corps. 2009;155(3):203–7.
Defense Suicide Prevention Office. About DSPO. n.d. Retrieved June 19, 2020, from https://www.dspo.mil/AboutDSPO/.
Defense Suicide Prevention Office. Home. n.d. Retrieved June 19, 2020, from https://www.dspo.mil/Conference/.
Department of Defense. Annual suicide report: calendar year 2018. 2019. Retrieved from https://www.dspo.mil/Portals/113/2018%20DoD%20Annual%20Suicide%20Report_FINAL_25%20SEP%2019_508c.pdf
Department of the Army. Suicide rates 2001–2010. Washington, DC: Department of Defense; 2010.
Department of the Army. Health promotion, risk reduction, and suicide prevention, Department of the Army Pamphlet 600-24. Washington, DC: Author; 2015.
Department of the Navy. Operational stress control program, OPNAV instruction 6520.1A. Washington, DC: Author; 2016.
Department of the Navy. Suicide Prevention Program, OPNAV instruction 1720.4B. Washington, DC: Chief of Naval Operations; 2018.
Department of Veterans Affairs. America’s wars. Office of Public Affairs. 2019. Retrieved from https://www.va.gov/opa/publications/factsheets/fs_americas_wars.pdf
Dolsak N, Parr SC, Prakash A. The Oxfam scandal shows that, yes, nonprofits can behave badly. So why aren't they overseen like for-profits? The Washington Post. 2018. Retrieved from https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/monkey-cage/wp/2018/02/19/the-oxfam-scandal-shows-that-yes-nonprofits-can-behave-badly-so-why-arent-they-overseen-like-for-profits/
Fisher House. n.d. Retrieved May 6, 2020, from https://fisherhouse.org/
Fisher House. About. n.d. Retrieved May 6, 2020, from https://fisherhouse.org/about/
Fisher House. Hero miles. n.d. Retrieved May 6, 2020, from https://fisherhouse.org/programs/hero-miles/
Fisher House. Our history. n.d. Retrieved May 6, 2020, from https://fisherhouse.org/about/our-history/
Give an Hour. About us. n.d. Retrieved May 6, 2020, from https://giveanhour.org/about-give-an-hour/
Give an Hour. Get help. n.d. Retrieved May 6, 2020, from https://giveanhour.org/get-help/
Give an Hour. Our work. n.d. Retrieved May 6, 2020, from https://giveanhour.org/initiatives-and-programs/
Greene-Shortridge TM, Britt TW, Andrew C. The stigma of mental health problems in the military. Mil Med. 2007;172(2):157–61.
Hartman A, Schuermann H, Kenney J. US Army soldiers’ trust and confidence in mental health professionals. Professional Counselor. 2018;8(3):213–25.
Hedegaard H, Curtin S, Warner M. Increase in suicide mortality in the United States, 1999–2018. NCHS Data Brief, 362. Hyattsville: National Center for Health Statistics; 2020. Retrieved from https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/products/databriefs/db362.htm#:~:text=Data%20from%20the%20National%20Vital,year%20from%202006%20through%202018
Hoge CW, Castro CA, Messer SC, McGurk D, Cotting DI, Koffman RL. Combat duty in Iraq and Afghanistan, mental health problems, and barriers to care. US Army Med Dep J. 2008:7–17.
Joiner TE. Why people die by suicide. Cambridge: Harvard University Press; 2005.
Jones D. In search of historical insight into the problem of military suicide. JAMA Netw Open. 2019;2(12):1–3.
Kuehn B. Soldier suicide rates continue to rise. JAMA. 2009;301(11):1111–3. https://doi.org/10.1001/jama.2009.342.
Lawson T. Statistical report on the sickness and mortality in the Army of the United States. Washington, DC: Jacob Gideon Jr; 1840. Retrieved June 15, 2020 from https://archive.org/details/b21977379/page/n7
Lineberry TW, O'Connor SS. Suicide in the US Army. Mayo Clin Proc. 2012;87(9):871–8. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.mayocp.2012.07.002.
Marine Corps Community Services. Suicide prevention. n.d. Retrieved June 21, 2020 from https://usmc-mccs.org/services/support/suicide-prevention/
Maslowski K, Vescera K, Bongar B. Innovations in military and veteran suicide prevention. In: Kumar U, editor. Handbook of suicidal behaviour. Singapore: Springer; 2017.
McKnight R. The US Air Force suicide prevention program and our airmen today. How transformational leadership can create more resilient airmen. Air Space Power J. 2019;2019:72–82.
Military OneSource. Welcome to military Onesource. n.d. Retrieved June 18, 2020, from https://www.militaryonesource.mil/
Military Suicide Research Consortium. Identifying risk and providing evidence-based prevention and treatment strategies. 2021. Retrieved January 14, 2021, from https://msrc.fsu.edu/
Military Suicide Research Consortium. Mission goals: military suicide research consortium. 2020. Retrieved January 14, 2021, from https://msrc.fsu.edu/about-msrc/mission
Military Suicide Research Consortium. Research projects in progress. 2020. Retrieved January 14, 2021, from https://msrc.fsu.edu/funded-research/projects-in-progress
Millegan J, Delaney EM, Klam W. Responding to trauma at sea: a case study in psychological first aid, unique occupational stressors, and resiliency self-care. Mil Med. 2016;181(11):e1692–5.
Nademin E, Jobes DA, Pflanz SE, Jacoby AM, Ghahramanlou-Holloway M, Campise R, Joiner T, Wagner BM, Johnson L. An investigation of interpersonal-psychological variables in air force suicides: a controlled-comparison study. Arch Suicide Res. 2008;12(4):309–26.
National Center for Telehealth & Technology (Defense Centers of Excellence for Psychological Health & Traumatic Brain Injury). Department of Defense suicide event report (DoDSER): Calendar year 2008 annual report. 2008. Retrieved from https://www.dspo.mil/Portals/113/Documents/2008-DoDSER-Annual-Report.pdf
Operation: Care and Comfort. n.d. Retrieved May 4, 2020, from https://www.occ-usa.org/
Operation: Care and Comfort. About us. n.d. Retrieved May 4, 2020, from https://www.occ-usa.org/about-us/about-us/
Operation Gratitude. Our impact. n.d. Retrieved May 4, 2020, from https://www.operationgratitude.com/our-impact/
Operation Gratitude. Who we are. n.d. Retrieved May 4, 2020, from https://www.operationgratitude.com/
Operation Gratitude. Who we serve. n.d. Retrieved May 4, 2020, from https://www.operationgratitude.com/who-we-serve/
Payne SE, Hill JV, Johnson DE. The use of unit watch or command interest profile in the management of suicide and homicide risk: rationale and guidelines for the military mental health professional. Mil Med. 2008;173(1):25–35.
Pruitt L, Smolenski D, Tucker J, Issa F, Chodacki J, McGraw K, Kennedy CH. Department of defense: suicide event report, RefID: F-C3EE053. Washington, DC: Psychological Health Center of Excellence; 2018.
Ramchand R, Acosta J, Burns RM, Jaycox LH, Pernin CG. The war within: preventing suicide in the US military. Rand Health Q. 2011; 1(1).
Reivich KJ, Seligman MEP, McBride S. Master resilience training in the US Army. Am Psychol. 2011;66(1):25–34.
Rojcewicz S. War and suicide. Life Threat Behav. 1971;1(1):46–54.
Rothberg J, Ursano R, Holloway H. Suicide in the United States military. Psychiatr Ann. 1987;17(8):545–8.
Rozanov VA, Mokhovikov AN, Stiliha R. Successful model of suicide prevention in the Ukraine military environment. Crisis. 2002;23(4):171–7.
Ryan ME, Carlton PK. The air force suicide prevention program. Department of the Air Force Pamphlet; 2001. p. 44–160.
Smith J, Doidge M, Hanoa R, Frueh C. A historical examination of military records of US Army suicide, 1819 to 2017. JAMA Netw Open. 2019;2(12):e1917448.
Stanley IH, Buchman-Schmitt JM, Chu C, Rogers ML, Gai AR, Wagner RK, Gutierrez PM, Joiner TE. The military suicide research consortium common data elements: an examination of measurement invariance across current service members and veterans. Assessment. 2019;26(6):963–75. https://doi.org/10.1177/1073191118777635.
Suzuki P. Suicide prevention in the Pacific War (WWII). Suicide Life Threat Behav. 1991;21(3):291-8.
Tragedy Assistance Program for Survivors. Bonnie Caroll. n.d. Retrieved May 5, 2020, from https://www.taps.org/bonniecarroll
Tragedy Assistance Program for Survivors. Mission. n.d. Retrieved May 5, 2020, from https://www.taps.org/mission
Tragedy Assistance Program for Survivors. Suicide loss. n.d. Retrieved June 21, 2020, from https://www.taps.org/suicide-postvention-model
U.S. Census Bureau. Military service. 2000. Retrieved from https://www.google.com/search?q=apa+citation+Military+Service++Census+Bureau&rlz=1C1CHBF_enUS863US863&oq=apa+citation+Military+Service++Census+Bureau&aqs=chrome..69i57.3253j0j7&sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8
Walker BS. ACE, suicide prevention for the army by the army. U.S. Army Public Health Command. 2011. Retrieved from https://www.army.mil/article/64796/ace_suicide_prevention_for_the_army_by_the_army
Navy Suicide Prevention Program (2020). Project 1 Small Act: 1 small act can make a difference or save a life (OPNAV N170F). Navy Suicide Prevention Program. https://www.mynavyhr.navy.mil/Portals/55/Support/21stCenturySailor/Suicide_Prevention/Documents/Navy%20Suicide%20Prevention%20Handbook%202020_FINAL.pdf?ver=t-AvxMPa9vov7A74_sd1KA%3D%3D
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2022 Springer Nature Switzerland AG
About this entry
Cite this entry
Vescera, K.J., Brady, A.J., Brown, J., Samuel, L., Bongar, B. (2022). Military Suicide: Theoretical Understandings and Responses. In: Pompili, M. (eds) Suicide Risk Assessment and Prevention. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-42003-1_76
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-42003-1_76
Published:
Publisher Name: Springer, Cham
Print ISBN: 978-3-030-42002-4
Online ISBN: 978-3-030-42003-1
eBook Packages: Behavioral Science and PsychologyReference Module Humanities and Social SciencesReference Module Business, Economics and Social Sciences