Active-duty members of the Marine Corps died by suicide at a higher rate than any other branch of the military during calendar year 2018, according to the newly released Department of Defense report. However, trends among military personnel seem to be largely mirroring those of the national civilian population.
The DoD Suicide Event Report (DoDSER) is typically released between 12 to 18 months after the corresponding calendar year, allowing for a more in-depth analysis of raw reported suicide data. The DoDSER team "cleans, verifies, analyzes, interprets and contextualizes the collected data in a manner that can be used to advance suicide prevention efforts."
The 2018 DoDSER revealed that the active-duty Marine Corps component experienced suicides at a slightly higher rate than any other service branch for that particular year. With 325 deaths by suicide among the active-component, suicide rates per 100,000 included:
- Air Force: 18.5 suicides per 100,000
- Army: 29.5 suicides per 100,000
- Navy: 20.7 suicides per 100,000
- Marine Corps: 31.4 suicides per 100,000
The Marine Corps rate was only slightly higher than the Army active-duty component with 29.5 per 100,000. Across the entire active-duty service, regardless of branch, the rate for 2018 was 24.8 per 100,000.
The 2018 DoDSER also includes information on the suicide rate within the Reserve and National Guard components -- 22.9 and 30.6, respectively. The significantly higher rate among National Guard personnel was consistent with past reports and did not represent an increase from CY11-17.
These rates -- after being adjusted for age and gender -- were "statistically no different" from the CY17 adult United States population, the report said.
Other trends the 2018 DoDSER reported included personal firearms as the most common method of injury in 2018, accounting for 66.5 percent of all 2018 suicides. The most common method of attempted suicide, on the other hand, was alcohol or drug overdose, accounting for 59 percent of reported suicide attempts.
Less than half -- 44.6 percent -- of individuals who died by suicide in 2018 made contact with the Military Health System (MHS) in the 90 days prior to their death.
Read the full report here.
--
If you or someone you know needs help, contact the Veteran Crisis Line 24/7 at 1-800-273-8255 (select option 1 for a VA staff member). Veterans, service members or their families also can text 838255 or go to veteranscrisisline.net.
