Sources: U.S. Department of Defense; Centers for Disease Control and Prevention as cited in TIME magazine, July 23, 2012, pages 26-27.
Who commits suicide in the military?
95% are male. (85% of the military is male.)
95% are enlisted. (83% of the military is enlisted.)
80% are white. (70% of the military is white.)
47% are under 25. (36% of the military is under 25.)
41% have received outpatient behavioral health services.
34% communicated the intent to die to someone.
30% had a breakup of an intimate relationship in the prior month.
14% had previously injured themselves.
83% of the suicides are in the U.S.
38% had been deployed to Iraq or Afghanistan.
26% had substance abuse issues.
7% had major depression.
5% had post traumatic stress syndrome.
3% had traumatic brain injury.
Suicide (20%) is second only to combat (26%) in deaths among the military.
