Suicide Risk Assessment Guide - Ontario Hospital Association

34 I Suicide Risk Assesment Guide
Military personnel
Persons with experience serving as military personnel may have experienced
traumatic events or have developed other mental health conditions that may
contribute to risk of suicide. The lifetime prevalence of suicide attempt among
active Canadian military has been estimated at 2.2% for men and 5.6% for
women (Belik, Stein, Asmundson, & Sareen, 2009). Recent findings have
indicated that there were no differences between suicide ideation over the
year prior to the study between military personnel and civilians; and that the
prevalence of suicide attempt was lower among military personnel compared
to civilians (Belik, Stein, Asmundson, & Sareen, 2010).
However, there may be specific risk factors and warning signs that should be
considered for military personnel. After controlling for mental illness and
socio-demographic factors, interpersonal trauma (e.g., rape, sexual assault,
physical and emotional abuse) has been found to be significantly related to
suicide attempt among military personnel (Belik et al., 2009).
While many of the risk factors and warning signs may be similar to civilians,
specific occupational risk factors for active military personnel include:
• Access to lethal means;
• Timing of assigned duty/shift (i.e., morning duty, late evening duty); and
• Recent changes to duty status for medical reasons (i.e., medical
downgrading; Mahon et al., 2005).
Assessment of suicide risk among military personnel should consider the
impact of traumatic life experiences that may or may not be related to their
military experience, as well as specific aspects of a person’s duty status.
Clinicians involved in the medical downgrading process should be particularly
vigilant in monitoring risk as the person makes this transition.