A report by the Department of Defense Suicide Prevention Office (DSPO) revealed that suicides among servicemembers in the Armed Forces increased 25% in the first quarter of 2023 compared to the same period in 2022.
In the first three months of last year, 75 suicides of active military personnel were recorded. This number increased to 94 in the first quarter of 2023. This is the highest amount recorded in a first quarter in the last seven years.
TAB A_20230623_QSR Rpt_Q1 C... by Verónica Silveri
According to DSPO: "The current report presents data from Q1 of [Calendar Year] 2023. Data includes all known or suspected suicides (both confirmed and pending) as of March 31, 2023." According to the Pentagon, "It is too early to determine whether suicide rates will increase or decrease for Calendar Year 2023."
The DoD continues to investigate individual cases to make informed determinations, and conduct the necessary statistical analyses to understand trends over time. ... At this time, it is too early to determine whether suicide rates will increase or decrease for Calendar Year 2023.
An increase in suicides in almost all branches
The current report shows an increase in suicides in almost all of the nation's law enforcement agencies:
- The Army recorded the largest increase in the number of suicides. The number increased from 37 deaths in 2022 to 49 in 2023.
- Suicides among the Marine Corps increased from 8 deaths (2022) to 14 (2023).
- Among Navy officers, the number remained the same in 2022 and 2023, with 14 suicides.
- In the Air Force, one more suicide was recorded compared to last year. (16 in 2022, and 17 in 2023).
- The Space Force Active Component (Space Force) experienced no suicide deaths in the first quarter of the year.
In 2022, a total of 589 military personnel, including active service and reserve, died due to suicide. This number was higher than that recorded in 2021 (519).
Suicide figures do not include veterans
The data in the current DSPO report does not include veteran suicide deaths. These figures were brought to light last year by America's Warrior Partnership (AWP), who revealed in an analysis that approximately 44 former service members were taking their own lives daily.
This report challenged the figure collected in Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) reports, which claimed that about 16.8 veterans died by suicide daily.
The figures also highlighted a suicide rate 37% higher than that reported by the VA for the years 2014-2018.
