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March 9 (UPI) -- High suicide rates among active duty and retired members of the U.S. military have officials seeking new solutions to help soldiers before it's too late. The Air Force last month announced a peer-to-peer support group to enable members to seek help. It is part of a strategy toward encouraging airmen to take proactive steps.
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The Army's Fort Wainwright, in Alaska, has instituted a number of changes since seven deaths on base between May 2018 and April 2019, five of which were classified as suicides.
Responses within the military have varied, but have the common goal of improving overall mental health and reducing the stigma associated with mental illness.
"The big thing is trying to get soldiers healthy," John Pennell, media relations chief for U.S. Army Alaska, told UPI.
The Defense Department provides support through Military OneSource, a 24/7 call center and website created in 2004 to provide information and assistance at no cost, including peer support services with other veterans with similar experiences.
The military also has implemented a suicide prevention training program using a framework called Question, Persuade and Refer, which each branch has modified and implemented, Pentagon spokeswoman Jessica Maxwell said.
"All services emphasize the importance of teaching service members and gatekeepers to recognize the warning signs of suicide, react in a non-judgmental way, ask the service member in trouble if he or she is suicidal, and refer the service member to a helping professional trained in suicide crisis intervention," Maxwell said.
At Fort Wainwright, commanding officers who have undergone suicide prevention training do monthly check-ins with each service member to assess mental health, and then refer those who it help to support services, Pennell said.
A growing problem
The rate of active-duty suicides has hovered between 20.2 and 29.7 deaths per 100,000 soldiers since 2008, but has risen in the past five years, according to DoD data. That has prompted more interest in the causes of death by suicide among active-duty military personnel.
In December, researchers who examined death records dating to the Revolutionary War found a link between longer wars and increased suicide, but not between suicide and deployment.
In fact, of the active duty service members who died by suicide in 2017, 41.7 percent had no history of deployment, Maxwell said.
But Maxwell also said some factors related to deployment might affect suicidal risk. They include being repeatedly deployed with six months or fewer between deployments or being deployed too soon after joining the military.
Lethal means
Suicide researchers have identified access to lethal means -- including firearms, as well as prescription drugs -- as a major risk factor for suicide deaths and attempts, both in and out of the military.
Just over half of completed suicides involved a firearm, according to the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention, and DoD data show the percentage of suicide deaths by firearm is at least 60 percent among active-duty military -- and it is higher among reservists, at 61.7 percent, and the National Guard, at 69.6 percent.
The high rate of gun suicides prompted the Pentagon to create a program called Counseling on Access to Lethal Means, or CALM, to reduce access to lethal means -- including prescription drugs and firearms -- and encourage education for safer storage methods among those at risk, such as gun locks or keeping firearms out of the home.
Holistic approach
"It is important to note that suicide is complex," Maxwell said. "While there is no single cause for suicide among service members, we are committed to addressing suicide comprehensively. We are continually leveraging existing research, from both within and outside of government, to tackle this tragedy."
Service members' struggles can be unique to their situation, or at least their location. An epidemiological consultation at Fort Wainwright found that soldiers struggled the most with getting a good night's sleep.
In Fairbanks, the sun shines nearly 20 hours a day during the summer. Blackout curtains are common in the region, but the barracks at Fort Wainwright have filtered blinds that still allow in a fair amount of light at night, media relations specialist Pennell said.
After conducting the epidemiological consultation, also called an Epicon, Army Alaska officials measured the windows and ordered new light-blocking blinds, which Pennell said are scheduled to be installed starting this month.
The Epicon also found soldiers struggled mentally if they experienced chronic pain or injuries.
Pennell said he did not believe opioid abuse was a factor in the recent spate of deaths, but the study found that soldiers who need to adjust their duties -- or take time off for physical therapy appointments -- might feel like they are letting their colleagues down.
Army Alaska counters that feeling by encouraging morale building and directing officers to let soldiers, during monthly check-ins, know it's OK to take breaks to care for themselves.
Money was also a factor in soldiers' quality of life. According to the Epicon, 27 percent of soldiers responding to the survey said their financial conditions were worse than before moving to Fort Wainwright, due to Alaska's high cost of living and the startup costs associated with relocating to a colder climate, like cold-winter clothes.
"I think the biggest thing is, for me, the idea that suicide is not a military problem, it is not an Alaska problem -- it is a national issue," Pennell said.
"When you realize there are problems that are affecting our soldiers and families, we're going to do everything we can [and] address everything we can."
