AP: suicides among US military increased in 2023
According to senior representatives of the US Department of Defence, the number of suicides in the country's Armed Forces increased in 2023, which is a continuation of a long-term trend that the Pentagon is struggling to stop, The Associated Press reports
"Officials said both the number of suicides and the rate per 100,000 active-duty service members went up, but that the rise was not statistically significant. The number also went up among members of the Reserves, while it decreased a bit for the National Guard,” the publication reads.
US Secretary of Defence Lloyd Austin has declared this problem a priority, and senior leaders of the department and all services have developed programmes aimed at both expanding mental health assistance for troops and bolster education on gun safety, locks and storage. However, many of these programmes have not been fully implemented, and these measures fall short of the more radical ones recommended by the independent commission.
According to officials, the increase was fuelled by spikes in the number of deaths in the Army and Air Force. The US Department of Defence recorded 523 cases of suicide among American military personnel in 2023, or 6 percent more than in 2022.
