The War Within: Suicide Prevention in the U.S. Military

T he casualty toll exacted by the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan is well known. But also emerging is another cost: stress among servicemembers, which can manifest in a variety of negative ways. One of the most disturbing manifestations is suicide, which has increased among U.S. military personnel for the past decade. In response, the U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) asked researchers from the RAND National Defense Research Institute to examine data on military suicides, identify what the scientific literature suggests and leaders in the field indicate to be state-of-the-art suicideprevention strategies, and recommend ways to ensure that the programs in each service reflect the state of the art. The results of this research appear in The War Within: Preventing Suicide in the U.S. Military.