Self-Harm and Suicide in the Army: Systematic Review

Abstract

As one of the three main causes of death in people between the ages of 15 and 44 years old, Suicide is, according to data from WHO, responsible, annually, for a million deaths. These numbers do not include suicide attempts, that are usually 10–20 times more frequent that suicide itself. This systematic review proposes to gather relevant information on the topic of self-harm and suicide in the Army, in accordance with the PRISMA-P statement for systematic review and meta-analysis protocols. This systematic review was based on relevant published articles found on five online databases (SCOPUS, PubMed, Science Direct, EBSCOhost e Web of Science), with a total of six keywords combinations. The information from the 13 selected articles was compiled into three groups. The first group addresses issues regarding the use of licit and illicit drugs and their relationship with self-harm and suicide; the second group focuses gender-related issues; and the third group addresses issues related to the identification of the main causes and of the individuals that resort to self-harm and suicide. No significant answers were found for the prevention of suicide and self-inflicted injuries in Armed forces.