November 2023 — MHCE Newsletter
You also want an ePaper? Increase the reach of your titles
YUMPU automatically turns print PDFs into web optimized ePapers that Google loves.
12 | <strong>MHCE</strong> - News www.mhce.us NOVEMBER <strong>2023</strong> EDITION<br />
were among enlisted troops,<br />
68% of suicides were among<br />
those younger than 30 years<br />
old and 93% were among male<br />
troops.<br />
Firearms were the most<br />
common method of suicide,<br />
the report concluded. About<br />
69% of suicides among activeduty<br />
troops were with a gun.<br />
The Defense Department<br />
in recent years has aimed<br />
to improve mental health<br />
care access for troops, amid<br />
increases in suicide rates<br />
and outcry from members of<br />
Congress and others.<br />
There were almost 29 suicides<br />
per 100,000 troops in 2020<br />
<strong>—</strong> up from 17.5 per 100,000<br />
in 2010, according to Defense<br />
Department data. That figure<br />
fell to 24.3 per 100,000 in<br />
2021, but it still represented an<br />
uptick in suicides compared to<br />
most of the 2000s and 2010s.<br />
In 2022, Defense Secretary<br />
Lloyd Austin approved the<br />
establishment of the Suicide<br />
Prevention and Response<br />
Independent Review<br />
Committee, and the group<br />
made 127 recommendations of<br />
near- and long-term solutions
Change language