Active-duty suicide numbers level off after summer spike, but reserves soar
Meghann Myers
Last fall, Army leaders went to the Associated Press to announce that they had seen a worrying increase in suicides since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic; the data showed a 30-percent increase in that service alone between the months of July and September.
The Defense Department did not offer any official explanations for the spike, but it appears to have been isolated to that summer, according to new data.
While active-duty suicides jumped about 8 percent overall last year ― to 377 total, compared to a 7-percent jump the previous year, or 348 total ― the final months of last year saw a leveling-off of that worrisome summer spike, with 99 total suicides from October to December, compared to 100 during the same period in 2019.
https://www.militarytimes.com/news/your-military/2021/04/05/active-duty-suicide-numbers-level-off-after-summer-spike-but-reserves-soar/
