Three interesting and important stories in the past two days on military suicides:

→ Repeat Brain Injury Raises Soldiers’ Suicide Risk

People in the military who suffer more than one mild traumatic brain injury face a significantly higher risk of suicide, according to research by the National Center for Veterans Studies at the University of Utah.

A survey of 161 military personnel who were stationed in Iraq and evaluated for a possible traumatic brain injury – also known as TBI – showed that the risk for suicidal thoughts or behaviors increased not only in the short term, as measured during the past 12 months, but during the individual’s lifetime.

→ In Calculation of Military Rates, the Numbers Are Not All Straightforward

As the number of suicides in the military began rising a decade ago, Pentagon officials could often be heard repeating a common defense: The military’s suicide rate was still lower than the rate for civilians of comparable age, sex and race.

But an analysis of Pentagon data shows that the Department of Defense uses numbers that may underestimate its suicide rate. A different methodology, like one employed by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, would result in a military rate equivalent to or above the comparable civilian rate, experts say.

→ Baffling Rise in Suicides Plagues the U.S. Military

[T]though the Pentagon has commissioned numerous reports and invested tens of millions of dollars in research and prevention programs, experts concede they are little closer to understanding the root causes of why military suicide is rising so fast.

“Any one variable in isolation doesn’t explain things,” said Craig J. Bryan, associate director of the National Center for Veterans Studies at the University of Utah. “But the interaction of all of them do. That’s what makes it very difficult to solve the problem. And that’s why we haven’t made advances.”