The Army released suicide data today for the month of December. Among active-duty soldiers, there were ten potential suicides: one has been confirmed as suicide, and nine remain under investigation. For November, the Army reported 11 potential suicides among active-duty soldiers. Since the release of that report, three have been confirmed as suicides, and eight remain under investigation.
There were 160 reported active-duty Army suicides during 2009. Of these, 114 have been confirmed, and 46 are pending determination of manner of death. During 2008, there were 140 suicides among active-duty soldiers.
During December 2009, among reserve component soldiers who were not on active duty, there were six potential suicides. For the year 2009, among that same group, there were 78 total suicides. Of those, 49 were confirmed as suicides and 29 are pending determination of the manner of death. For 2008, there were 57 suicides among reserve soldiers who were not on active duty.
“There’s no question that 2009 was a painful year for the Army when it came to suicides. We took wide-ranging measures last year to confront the problem, from the service-wide stand-down and chain-teach program, to enhanced suicide prevention programs and guidance for our Army units, and the suicide prevention research through our partnership with the National Institute of Mental Health,” said Col. Christopher Philbrick, deputy director, Army Suicide Prevention Task Force.
In 2010, the Army will continue to update and conduct suicide prevention training and improve procedures to ensure soldiers and families receive the support they need when undergoing key transitions, such as moving to another duty station or separating from the Army.
As part of the ongoing Army Campaign Plan for Health Promotion, Risk Reduction, and Suicide Prevention, the Army Suicide Prevention Task Force will complete a thorough analysis and assessment of each of the Army’s current suicide prevention programs to determine which are most effectively meeting the needs of the Army community.
“Our assessment will give us the data we need to make decisions about how our programs should be expanded or adjusted, while at the same time maintaining our focus on saving soldiers’ lives,” Philbrick added.
The Army’s comprehensive list of Suicide Prevention Program information is located at http://www.armyg1.army.mil/hr/suicide/default.asp .
Army leaders can access current health promotion guidance in newly revised Army Regulation 600-63 (Health Promotion) at: http://www.army.mil/usapa/epubs/pdf/r600_63.pdf and Army Pamphlet 600-24 (Health Promotion, Risk Reduction and Suicide Prevention) at http://www.army.mil/usapa/epubs/pdf/p600_24.pdf .
Soldiers and families in need of crisis assistance can contact Military OneSource or the Defense Center of Excellence (DCoE) for Psychological Health and Traumatic Brain Injury Outreach Center. Trained consultants are available from both organizations 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year.
The Military OneSource toll-free number for those residing in the continental U.S. is 1-800-342-9647. Their website address is http://www.militaryonesource.com. Overseas personnel should refer to the Military OneSource website for dialing instructions for their specific location.
The DCoE Outreach Center can be contacted at 1-866-966-1020, via electronic mail at Resources@DCoEOutreach.org and at http://www.dcoe.health.mil .
Information about the Army’s Comprehensive Soldier Fitness Program is located at http://www.army.mil/csf/.
Archive for the ‘Suicide’ Category
DOD Press Release Jan 15, 09 Army suicide data December 09
Friday, February 26th, 2010DOD Press Release Feb 17, 2010 Army releases suicide data forJan 2010
Friday, February 26th, 2010The Army released suicide data today for the month of January. Among active-duty soldiers, there were 12 potential suicides: one has been confirmed as suicide, and 11 remain under investigation. For December, the Army reported ten potential suicides among active-duty soldiers. Since the release of that report, three have been confirmed as suicides, and seven remain under investigation.
During January 2010, among reserve component soldiers who were not on active duty, there were 15 potential suicides. For December, among that same group, there were seven total suicides. Of those, five were confirmed as suicides and two are pending determination of the manner of death.
“In the new year, we won’t just maintain our current focus on suicide prevention, we’re going to sharpen that focus,” said Col. Christopher Philbrick, director, Army Suicide Prevention Task Force. “We’ve made significant changes in our health promotion, risk reduction, and suicide prevention programs, policies, and initiatives. But over the last year, you could describe our Army effort as shining a flood light on the problem of suicide. Now in 2010, we’re going to move from a flood light to a laser light— identifying our most effective programs, so we can target and reinforce what’s working and fix what isn’t.”
In January, the Suicide Prevention Resource Council and the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention selected the Army’s “Ask, Care, Escort” model for inclusion in their national registry of programs reflecting “best practices” in suicide prevention. The Army’s model is one of only thirteen suicide prevention programs, nationwide, included in the registry.
 ”One suicide prevention approach that is working is the Army’s ‘Ask, Care, Escort’ model of suicide prevention,” said Philbrick. “The ‘Ask, Care, Escort’ model is fundamentally about engaged, concerned leadership, and caring for your fellow soldier. That’s something the Army knows how to do.”
Army leaders can access current health promotion guidance in newly revised Army Regulation 600-63, Health Promotion at: http://www.army.mil/usapa/epubs/pdf/r600_63.pdf and Army Pamphlet 600-24 Health Promotion, Risk Reduction and Suicide Prevention at http://www.army.mil/usapa/epubs/pdf/p600_24.pdf .
Suicide prevention training resources for Army families can be accessed at http://www.armyg1.army.mil/hr/suicide/training_sub.asp?sub_cat=20. Army Knowledge Online is required to download materials.
Soldiers and families in need of crisis assistance can contact Military OneSource or the Defense Center of Excellence (DCOE) for Psychological Health and Traumatic Brain Injury Outreach Center. Trained consultants are available from both organizations 24 hours a day, seven days a week, 365 days a year.
The Military OneSource toll-free number for those residing in the continental U.S. is 1-800-342-9647; their Web site address is http://www.militaryonesource.com . Overseas personnel should refer to the Military OneSource Web site for dialing instructions for their specific location.
The DCOE Outreach Center can be contacted at 1-866-966-1020, via electronic mail at Resources@DCoEOutreach.org .and at http://www.dcoe.health.mil .
The Army’s comprehensive list of Suicide Prevention Program information is located at http://www.armyg1.army.mil/hr/suicide/default.asp .
More information about the Army’s Comprehensive Soldier Fitness Program is located at http://www.army.mil/csf/ .
VA, DoD discuss suicide research, screening
Friday, February 26th, 2010Military Times
VA, DoD discuss suicide research, screening
As Veterans Affairs and Defense Department officials gathered at a conference Jan. 12 to discuss what research tells them about suicide in the military, a young Army captain stood up to ask a question:
“What can we do at the unit level? That’s the only reason my commander sent me here.â€
He left empty-handed.
“There are certainly things you could do, but there’s nothing evidence-based,†said Col. Carl Castro, a psychologist and director of operations for the Medicine Research Program in the Army’s Medical Research and Materiel Command. “This is a very complex problem. Nobody has the answer.â€
Castro called suicide the military’s “No. 2 or 3 priority, with [post-traumatic stress disorder] at No. 1.â€
But he did have some ideas. He said screening is “an area we could definitely do better in,†and also said the two suicide-related questions on the current post-deployment health assessment probably are insufficient.
The Army has been working since 2007 on a five-year study with the National Institute of Mental Health and launched about 10 suicide research projects in 2008. Last year, a series of workshops was held to map out a course for research.
Kerry Knox, director of the VA Center of Excellence at Canandaigua, N.Y., has been looking at the issues associated with veterans and suicide and said one of the biggest warning signs seems to be “executive dysfunction†— the inability to plan and execute tasks well, such as remembering appointments or completing a project.
Those problems also have been associated with PTDS, traumatic brain injury and substance abuse. VA is researching suicide rates in veterans who have reported problems with memory, attention or motor skills.
Drug overdoses also have been a factor, so researchers are looking into whether putting medications in blister packs that need to be opened separately for each pill, rather than in a bottle, might deter people from taking several pills at once.
VA also is reviewing the effectiveness of suicide hot lines and prevention coordinators at VA medical centers and evaluating public awareness campaigns to see whether people seek help in greater numbers after seeing a poster or TV announcement.
Castro said part of the problem is that things that work for civilian populations may have the opposite effect on service members because of the military mind-set about what makes them successful or defines them as individuals.
“This is a major problem, and we are tackling it from many directions,†Castro said. “It’s going to take all of us working together to do that.â€