Canadian military members more likely to attempt suicide, University of Manitoba study finds

A new study from the University of Manitoba has found Canadian military members have higher rates of suicide attempts and suicidal thoughts than the rest of the Canadian population.

But the study also found military members are more likely to access mental health services.

• 1 in 6 soldiers affected by alcohol-related or mental health issues
• Soldiers at higher risk of suicide after serving in Afghan war zone

The new study was published in the Canadian Medical Association Journal on Tuesday.

It found from 2012 to 2013, people in the Canada's Armed Forces were 64 per cent more likely to plan suicide than civilians, and 32 per cent more likely to think about suicide.

The study indicated these people were significantly more likely to seek help, accessing more professionals than civilians with suicidal thoughts did.

"It seems as though, in the last number of years, the military, a substantial proportion have been deployed to Afghanistan and a number of them have been dealing with post-traumatic stress and depression," said the lead author on the study, Jitender Sareen. He's a professor of psychiatry at the University of Manitoba.

It also found the Canadian Armed Forces have made greater investments in mental health services compared to the public system in Canada.

"What we can learn is suicide rates in the civilian population have relatively been stable over the last ten years. So although there has been a lot of increase in funding for mental health services I think we need more funding for the general mental health services so people can have more access," said Sareen. "But also more importantly, for people who have suicidal thoughts or attempts, we need targeted services."

The study looked at data from four national surveys from Statistics Canada. Respondents were between the ages of 18 and 60.

Women did fare better than men in the service; their suicidal ideation decreased over time, whereas men's did not.