By the Numbers: 22 July 2019
65.4%
The percentage of suicide deaths in Service members that involved "a personally-owned firearm (as opposed to a military-issued firearm)," according to a recent blog article from the Psychological Health Center of Excellence (PHCoE) discussing the 2017 DoD Suicide Event Report (DoDSER). Other data points from the report:
- The most common mechanism of injury for suicide attempts in service members was alcohol and/or drugs, which accounted for 55.5 percent of identified attempts.
- 50.8 percent of service members who died by suicide did not have a documented behavioral health diagnosis.
- 2017 suicide rates for active duty, reserve, and National Guard members were not different from the average rates for 2014-2016.
- 2017 suicide rates for active duty members of the Army, Marine Corps, Navy, and Air Force were not different from the average rates for 2014-2016.
- After adjusting the data for age and sex, there were no statistically significant differences between the suicide rates for active duty service members or reservists and the U.S. adult population. The National Guard, however, showed a higher suicide rate than the U.S. adult population after sex and age adjustments.
65.4%
The percentage of suicide deaths in Service members that involved "a personally-owned firearm (as opposed to a military-issued firearm)," according to a recent blog article from the Psychological Health Center of Excellence (PHCoE) discussing the 2017 DoD Suicide Event Report (DoDSER). Other data points from the report:
- The most common mechanism of injury for suicide attempts in service members was alcohol and/or drugs, which accounted for 55.5 percent of identified attempts.
- 50.8 percent of service members who died by suicide did not have a documented behavioral health diagnosis.
- 2017 suicide rates for active duty, reserve, and National Guard members were not different from the average rates for 2014-2016.
- 2017 suicide rates for active duty members of the Army, Marine Corps, Navy, and Air Force were not different from the average rates for 2014-2016.
- After adjusting the data for age and sex, there were no statistically significant differences between the suicide rates for active duty service members or reservists and the U.S. adult population. The National Guard, however, showed a higher suicide rate than the U.S. adult population after sex and age adjustments.
