Army Releases February Suicide Data

By OCPA Media Relations DivisionMarch 11, 2010

WASHINGTON, D.C. (March 11, 2010) — The Army released suicide data today for the month of February. Among active-duty Soldiers, there were 14 potential suicides: one has been confirmed as suicide, and 13 remain under investigation. For January, the Army reported 12 potential suicides among active-duty Soldiers. Since the release of that report, two have been confirmed as suicides, and ten remain under investigation.

During February, among reserve-component Soldiers who were not on active duty, there were five potential suicides: all five remain under investigation. For January, among that same group, there were 15 potential suicides. Of those, seven were confirmed as suicides and eight are pending determination of the manner of death.

"In our continuing efforts to sharpen our current focus on suicide prevention, we are conducting a comprehensive review of existing programs Army-wide, related to health promotion, risk reduction and suicide prevention," said Col. Chris Philbrick, director, Army Suicide Prevention Task Force. "We will use the results of this review to increase the effectiveness of our efforts."

"Because suicide affects every member of our Army Family and no one is immune to depression, anxiety and stress; we are also expanding our training resources and support programs to address these issues with our Department of the Army Civilians and Family Members," Philbrick said.

The Army's comprehensive list of Suicide Prevention Program information is located at <a href="http://www.armyg1.army.mil/hr/suicide/default.asp">www.armyg1.army.mil</a>.

Army leaders can access current health promotion guidance in newly-revised <a href="http://www.army.mil/usapa/epubs/pdf/r600_63.pdf">Army Regulation 600-63 (Health Promotion)</a> and <a href="http://www.army.mil/usapa/epubs/pdf/p600_24.pdf">Army Pamphlet 600-24 (Health Promotion, Risk Reduction and Suicide Prevention)</a>.

Suicide prevention training resources for Army Families can be accessed <a href="http://www.armyg1.army.mil/hr/suicide/training_sub.asp'sub_cat=20">online</a> (requires Army Knowledge Online access to download materials).

Soldiers and Families in need of crisis assistance can contact Military OneSource or the Defense Center of Excellence (DCoE) for Psychological Health and Traumatic Brain Injury Outreach Center. Trained consultants are available from both organizations 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year.

The Military OneSource toll-free number for those residing in the continental U.S. is 1-800-342-9647; their Web site address is <a href="http://www.militaryonesource.com">www.militaryonesource.com</a>. Overseas personnel should refer to the Military OneSource Web site for dialing instructions for their specific location.

The DCOE Outreach Center can be contacted at 1-866-966-1020, via electronic mail at <a href="mailto:Resources@DCoEOutreach.org">Resources@DCoEOutreach.org</a> and at <a href="http://www.dcoe.health.mil/resources.aspx">www.dcoe.health.mil</a>.

Information about the Army's Comprehensive Soldier Fitness Program is located at <a href="http://www.army.mil/csf/"> www.army.mil</a>.

American Foundation for Suicide Prevention at <a href="http://www.afsp.org/">www.afsp.org</a>.

Suicide Prevention Resource Council at <a href="http://www.sprc.org/index.asp">www.sprc.org</a>.

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