TAKING ITS TOLL

Military Suicides Up 20 Percent Amid Coronavirus, Wars, Natural Disasters, and Civil Unrest

Military suicides have increased by as much as 20 percent over the last year as service members struggle with COVID, war-zone deployments, national disasters, and civil unrest.

Military suicides have increased by as much as 20 percent in 2020 over the same period in 2019, according to the Associated Press. Senior military leaders say there has also been an increase in violent behavior due to the stress caused by the coronavirus pandemic, war-zone deployments, natural disasters, and civil unrest. Some army officials say they have seen a 30 percent increase in active duty suicides and are considering shortening combat deployments to try to ease stressful situations. The Pentagon did not share official data, but the military officials interviewed by the AP say the timing of the increase and the pandemic and other disasters leaves little doubt that they are related. “I can’t say scientifically, but what I can say is—I can read a chart and a graph, and the numbers have gone up in behavioral health related issues,” Army Secretary Ryan McCarthy told the Associated Press. “We cannot say definitively it is because of COVID. But there is a direct correlation from when COVID started, the numbers actually went up.”