Quarter of Armed Forces veterans who answer poll had attempted suicide All Call Signs poll finds

Portsmouth-based All Call Signs carried out a survey of 812 members of the Armed Forces including veterans, service personnel, close relatives and community supporters to understand how they are affected by suicide and self harm.

The poll also found that almost half (49 per cent) of veterans surveyed had put serious thought into ending their own life.

A fifth of currently serving personnel who responded to the survey admitted to self-harming before and 44 per cent had seriously thought about suicide.

Dan Arnold, co-founder All Call Signs said: ‘When we set out to understand the relationship our military community had with suicide as an act and an idea, we never imagined the figures would reflect what we're seeing here.

‘The unique stresses and strains that our uniformed men and women and their families face are clearly having an impact on their mental health and wellbeing that perhaps hasn't been fully appreciated until now.

‘More research must be done to understand why this community, particularly veterans, feel so low as to consider suicide and self harm as viable options.’

All Call Signs poll found both veterans and active personnel show suicidal and self harming tendencies at a much higher rate than non-serving members of the community.

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Over half (50.6 per cent) of the military community have lost friends to suicide, 15 per cent have lost family members and 27 per cent have family who have attempted to take their own life.

Stephen James, All Call Signs co-founder, added: ‘Stigma around mental health is still a huge factor in people not reaching out for support, particularly men, who account for three in every four suicides.

‘The data indicates, as anyone who works in the space could have guessed, that the armed forces community experience suicidal ideation and even attempts at suicide much more commonly.

‘We must now reflect on what this insight means for how we communicate about mental health to this demographic. Mental ill health has a way of making you feel alien, like you're the first person to be so low or lonely to consider taking your own life. The numbers tell a different story.’

In 2019, The News’ Veterans in Crisis campaign highlighted the hidden epidemic of mental health struggles and suicides among Britain’s veterans as well as revealing that the UK did not monitor the number of veterans taking their lives. The campaign led to the government announced a raft of improved support measures and a major study into veteran suicides.

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