Attempted military suicides should alarm us more

When we focus on the suicides of members of the military, we miss what is happening telling a darker story of the lack of help they have actually been getting. Given the fact that we have been told that "resilience training works" well enough to spend billions a year, we should all be asking "Where is the proof?"

Take a look at the numbers released last year for 2011 since we do not have the data from their report for 2012.

The AFMES indicates that 301 Service Members died by suicide in 2011

Air Force = 50
Army = 167
Marine Corps = 32
Navy = 52

This number includes deaths strongly suspected to be suicides that are pending final determination. DoDSER Points of Contact (POCs) submitted reports for 100% of AFMES confirmed 2011 suicides
Air Force = 46
Army = 159
Marine Corps = 31
Navy = 51 as of the data extraction date (26 April 2012).

A total of 915 Service Members attempted suicide in 2011
Air Force = 241
Army = 432
Marine Corps = 156
Navy = 86


DoDSERs were submitted for 935 suicide attempts
Air Force = 251
Army = 440
Marine Corps = 157
Navy = 87

Of the 915 Service Members who attempted suicide, 896 had one attempt, 18 had two attempts, and 1 had three attempts.

Most Service Members were not known to have communicated their potential for self-harm with others prior to dying by suicide (n = 212, 73.87%) or attempting suicide (n = 709, 75.83%). Those who did disclose their potential for self-harm most frequently communicated with spouses, friends, and other family members. These communications were most frequently verbal (n = 46, 16.03% of suicides; n = 129, 13.80% of attempted suicides). Other modes of communication included text messages (n = 11, 3.83% of suicides; n = 20, 2.14% of attempted suicides) and via Facebook (n = 4, 1.39% of suicides, n = 8, 0.86% of attempted suicides).