Suicide in United States Army Personnel, 1983–1984

A fifth biennium of epidemiological data on suicide in the U.S. Army was compiled. The annual crude suicide rate per 100,000 soldiers-at-risk for 1983–1984 was found to be 10.0, a drop of 1.4 points from 1981 to 1982. Sex-specific, race-specific, age-specific, grade-specific, and marital status-specific rates were studied, and these can be compared with the same indices in the previous four biennia. Demographic data and information on circumstances surrounding the suicidal act were also made available for comparison with previous data. Analysis of the suicidal person's psychosocial situation (as reflected in the kinds of personal problems recorded in the reports and investigations of the incident, and as reflected in assessment made of the victims pre-suicidal “motivational state”) showed remarkable constancy in the five time periods studied, and indicates a powerful, consistent association between a dyadic love object relationship in total collapse and the completed suicide.