Numbers Have Been Going Up Since 2011
Click to Enlarge: Long-term analyses provide a clearer picture of how rates are changing over time. Suicide rates for the Active Component gradually increased* from 2011 to 2023. In most years between 2011 and 2022, the Active Component suicide rate was largely similar † to the suicide rate in the U.S. population^, except when the suicide rate was higher* in the Active Component in 2020. Source: U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) Annual Report on Suicides, 2023
WASHINGTON, DC — Suicide deaths per 100,000 servicemembers were 9% higher in 2023 than in 2022, according to a report from the DoD, which advises that 523 servicemembers took their own lives last year.
Most of the victims were young, enlisted men, according to the DoD Annual Report on Suicide (ARSM) in the Military: Calendar Year (CY) 2023.
The increase was largely driven by suicide rates among active component U.S. servicemembers, which continued to gradually increase in 2023, rising 12% from 2022. Rates for active-duty personnel have been going up since 2011, according to the DoD.
The report notes that active component suicide rates were similar to the U.S. population in most years between 2011-2023, after accounting for age and sex differences.
Firearms were the primary method of suicide death for servicemembers, 65% for active component and family members—61% for spouses and 43% for dependents).
In CY 2022, the most recent year for which data was available, 146 family members died by suicide, including 93 spouses and 53 dependents. That is a reduction from 2021, when 165 family members died by suicide.
For the Reserve and Guard, the DoD reported no increasing or decreasing long-term trend between 2011 and 2022. Compared to 2022, the Reserve rate was 8% higher, and the National Guard rate was 5% lower and not statistically significant, according to the ARSM.
In 2022, Defense Secretary Lloyd J. Austin established the Suicide Prevention Response and Independent Review Committee (SPRIRC) to conduct a review of clinical and nonclinical suicide prevention and response programs; more than 100 recommendations resulted. Based on those, in September 2023, Austin announced a suicide prevention campaign plan across five lines of effort: fostering a supportive environment, improving the delivery of mental healthcare, addressing stigma and other barriers to care, revising suicide prevention training and promoting a culture of lethal means safety with 83 enabling actions.
In the last year, according to a DoD press release, 20 SPRIRC recommendations have been met.
According to the report, 42% of active component servicemembers committing suicide had mental health diagnoses, including alcohol-use disorder, depressive disorder, anxiety disorder, adjustment disorder or post-traumatic stress disorder, while 44% had intimate relationship issues, 29% had administration or legal problems, 24% had workplace difficulties, 12% had workplace difficulties, and 2% reported assault or harassment. The DoD states that 5% of those taking their own lives identified as gay, lesbian or bisexual.
Branch of service-specific suicide rates fluctuated year-to-year, although suicide rates for each service gradually increased in the long-term from 2011 to 2023. Because the Army has the largest population of all the services, changes in rates there have a significant effect on overall numbers.
“In short-term comparisons, between 2023 and 2022, no service was found to have had a statistically significant difference in suicide rates,” according to the ASRM, which added, “Between 2011 and 2022, Service-specific rates were largely similar to the U.S. population.”
It also points out that, consistent with historical data, divorced active component members had higher* suicide rates than the overall group and that female active-duty servicemembers had lower suicide rates than the overall Active Component.
Interestingly, report authors noted that there was a greater number of servicemembers who were married at their time of death: 161 in 2023 compared to 147 in 2022.
