Leo Sher, M.D.

Our research paper, “Interplay of combat deployment harassment, testosterone concentrations and post-deployment suicide risk in male veterans” has been published in Acta Neuropsychiatrica online ahead of print (1). Studies suggest that the deployment environment may affect post-deployment suicide risk. In this study, we tested the hypothesis that harassment during a combat deployment is associated with post-deployment suicidality and testosterone function.

Male combat veterans who made post-deployment suicide attempts and demographically matched veterans without a history of suicide attempts were enrolled in the study. Demographic and clinical parameters of study participants were assessed and recorded. Study participants were interviewed by a trained clinician using the Mini-International Neuropsychiatric Interview (MINI) to establish DSM-IV diagnoses, the Deployment Risk and Resilience Inventory (DRRI) – Relationships within unit scale (DRRI) to examine harassment during a combat deployment, the Scale for Suicidal Ideation (SSI) to examine suicidal ideation, and the Brown–Goodwin Aggression Scale to assess the severity of aggression, a characteristic often associated with suicidal behavior.

DRRI harassment scores were higher and free testosterone levels were lower among suicide attempters in comparison with non-attempters. In the whole sample, DRRI harassment scores positively correlated with SSI scores and negatively correlated with free testosterone levels. Free testosterone levels negatively correlated with SSI scores. Aggression scale scores positively correlated with DRRI harassment scores among non-attempters but not among attempters.

Our observations that harassment scores are associated with suicidality and testosterone levels, and suicidality is associated with testosterone levels may indicate that there is a link between deployment harassment, testosterone function and suicidality. Future studies of harassment in the military should investigate possible mediators in the association of harassment with suicidal behavior such as shame, perceived burdensomeness, and social alienation.

Reference

1. Sher L, Bierer LM, Flory J, Makotkine I, Yehuda R. Interplay of combat deployment harassment, testosterone concentrations and post-deployment suicide risk in male veterans. Acta Neuropsychiatr. 2024 Mar 26:1-5. doi: 10.1017/neu.2024.12. Epub ahead of print.