AN OVERVIEW OF

THE NAVY’S
SUICIDE
PREVENTION
PROGRAM

Mission First… Sailors Always

 Navy Suicide Rates/100K
(CY-91 to CY-04)

25

20
Rates/100K

15

10

5
CY-91 92 93 94 95 96 97 98 99 00 01 02 03 04**
DoD Avg 12.5 13.4 15.2 14.2 17.1 13.3 11.6 12.3 11.7 11.9 11.5 10.8 12.1 12.8
*Navy
Source: Naval
rates 10.2Health11.8 11.0 11.8 17.3 10.7 10.7 14.4 11 11.7 10.4 11.3 12.2 10.3
Research Center

** FY-04 are projections for the year.

Mission First… Sailors Always 2

 DEMOGRAPHICS
Demographics Navy U.S.
Gender
Male * 12.0 17.3
Female 2.8 4.0
Age in years
15-19 10.6 8.0
20-24 11.3 12.3
25-34 9.2 12.3
35-44 12.4 14.5
45-54 11.5 14.5
Race
White 11.5 11.6
Black 9.8 5.3
All other 8.2 6.4
* All rates are shown in per 100,000 persons
Mission First… Sailors Always 3
 NAVY SUICIDE
CHARACTERISTICS

• CONUS
89%
• Occurred while on liberty 67%
• Location was residence 67%
• Method was firearm 54%
• Alcohol factor 33%

Mission First… Sailors Always 4

 COMMON RISK FACTORS

• Recent Feelings of Depression 40%

• History of Psychiatric Condition 32%
• Recent Feelings of Anxiety 27%
• Recent Feelings of Guilt 26%
• Alcohol Abuse in the last year 25%

Mission First… Sailors Always 5

 COMMON STRESSORS

• Primary Relationship Problem 53%

• Physical Health Problem 35%
• Job Dissatisfaction 32%
• Poor Performance 31%
• Military Legal/ADMIN Problem 27%

Mission First… Sailors Always 6

SUICIDE EVENTS: DAY & SEASON
11% 15%
12% 15%
Day of
12%
19% Week
16%

Sat. Sun. Mon. Tue.

Wed. Thu. Fri.
22% 22%
Season
28%
28%

Spring Summer Autumn Winter

Mission First… Sailors Always 7

SUICIDE EVENTS: DEPLOYED
AND COMMAND LOCATION
5%
95%
Deployed

No Yes

Command
11%
Location
89%

CONUS OCONUS

Mission First… Sailors Always 8

SUICIDE EVENTS: LOCATION &
DUTY STATUS
7%
15%
4%
58%
16%

Work place Common public

Other Isolated public
Residence

11% 12%
10%

67%

Duty Liberty UA Leave

Mission First… Sailors Always 9

 SUICIDE EVENT: ALCOHOL USE
16%
17% 45%

22%

No Unlikely Likely Yes

Mission First… Sailors Always 10

 RISK FACTORS

Psychiatric history
32% Alcohol problems
35% Suicide attempts/ges
30% 25% Drug use/abuse
25% 20%
17%
20%
15%
10%
5%
0% Mission First… Sailors Always 11
 RISK FACTORS

Depression Anxiety
Guilt Failure
40%
Tired of problems Desire to die
35% 39% Hopelessness Isolation
Powerlessness Loneliness
30% Lack of interest Burdensome
25% 27%
26%
20% 22%
21%
15% 18%18%
10% 15%
14% 14%
5% 10% 10%

0% Mission First… Sailors Always 12

 RISK FACTORS

23% Usual mood

25% Sleep patterns
Weight
20% Eating habits
15% Work performance
15% 12% 11% 11%
10%

5%

0% Mission First… Sailors Always 13

 RISK FACTORS

Arranging affairs
20% Impulsivity
16% Self-deprecation
Aggressive behavior
15% 12% Self-mutilation

9% 8%
10%
5%
5%

0% Mission First… Sailors Always 14

 COMMON STRESSORS

Primary relationship
53% Domestic violence
60%
Recent death
50%
40%
30%
20% 9% 8%
10%
0% Mission First… Sailors Always 15
 COMMON STRESSORS

Work dissatisfaction
Poor performance
32% 31%
35% Handling stress
30% Job loss
25%
18%
20% 14%
15%
10%
5%
0% Mission First… Sailors Always 16
 COMMON STRESSORS

Military legal/adm
Disciplinary action
27% Civil legal
30% 24%
Criminal
25%
18%
20%
12%
15%
10%
5%
0% Mission First… Sailors Always 17
 EVIDENCE OF SERVICES
USED PRIOR TO SUICIDE
Months Preceding Suicide
<1 1-12 Total
Military Outpatient 23% 39% 62%
Mental Health 11% 16% 27%
Chaplain Service 10% 9% 19%
Military Inpatient 5% 14% 19%
Civilian Medical 4% 7% 10%
Substance Abuse 4% 7% 10%
Family Advocacy 4% 3% 7%
Financial 1% 7% 8%
Stress Management 1% 4% 5%

Mission First… Sailors Always 18

 CURRENT STATE OF THE NAVY’S
SUICIDE PREVENTION PROGRAM
POSITIVE
• Mandatory training of the
entire Navy
• Everyone views the same
training
• Develop projected suicide rate
• Collect data on all completed
suicides
• The Navy’s suicide rate
remains at levels from
previous years
Mission First… Sailors Always
NEGATIVE
• Sometimes training is completed
as if just completing a “check-in
the box”
• Mid-level and senior Navy
leaders could use different
information
• Services use different means to
develop suicide rate
• Services all use different forms to
collect data on completed suicides
• Additional funding & staffing
could reduce the Navy’s suicide
rate
19