After climbing for nearly two decades, suicide rates among US military veterans have shown a significant decline since 2020, according to new research.
The study in JAMA Network Open provides hopeful data following a grim period where veteran suicide rates—particularly among those with a traumatic brain injury (TBI)—far outpaced the general population.
“When we started looking at this earlier, there was actually a protective effect for being a veteran. It was called the ‘Healthy Warrior Effect,'” says principal investigator Mary Jo Pugh, a professor of epidemiology at the University of Utah’s Spencer Fox Eccles School of Medicine.
This protective effect, however, reversed as the War on Terror continued.
“Our earlier work showed that around 2006 is when veteran rates of suicide… started to increase,” Pugh notes. “That’s after a period of people being deployed to wars repeatedly since 2001 or 2002. But it’s not just deployment because those who deployed had lower rates of suicide—it is a complex issue.”
The disparity quantified by Pugh’s study is stark: While US adult suicide rates reached about 20 deaths per 100,000 people by 2020, the rate for post-9/11 veterans with TBI peaked at 100 deaths per 100,000, and 61 per 100,000 for those without TBI. According to the Veterans Administration, more than 140,000 veterans have died by suicide since 2001.
The study’s most important finding is that veteran suicide rates have dropped sharply since 2020. Pugh suggests this may be due to a “critical mass” of suicide prevention measures, such as the Prevention 2.0 Initiative, the Suicide Prevention Now initiative and the President’s Roadmap to Empower Veterans.
“There’s been a huge emphasis on safe gun use, like providing veterans locks for their guns, which may have an impact,” Pugh says, noting that most veteran suicides involve firearms.
However, she believes it’s a combination of factors. “They’ve got a variety of different approaches to help people… reduce impulsive behavior,” she adds. “One size never fits all for any kind of mental health condition or treatment.”
Pugh, a former Air Force nurse, brings a personal perspective to the research. She was medically retired after suffering polytrauma injuries (including TBI) in a bicycle collision with a car piloted by a drunk driver. She went on to earn a doctorate in developmental psychology, which she has used to examine long-term outcomes of military experiences such as TBI.
Funding for the work came from the Department of Defense and the Department of Veterans Affairs.
Source: University of Utah
