New Perspectives on Suicide Risk Among Military Personnel and Veterans

Suicide rates among U.S. military personnel and military veterans remain elevated despite considerable investment in a wide range of suicide prevention strategies, befuddling researchers, clinicians, and military leaders. This presentation critiques traditional assumptions about the processes by which suicidal ideation and suicidal behaviors are interrelated, and reviews new empirical findings that cast a different perspective on the nature of suicidal ideation. Implications for clinical practice and suicide prevention among military personnel and veterans are discussed.

About Dr. Craig J. Bryan

Dr. Craig J. Bryan, PsyD, ABPP, is a board-certified clinical psychologist in cognitive behavioral psychology. He is the Stress, Trauma, and Resilience (STAR) Professor of Psychiatry and Behavioral Health at The Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center, and is the Division Director for Recovery and Resilience. Dr. Bryan received his PsyD in clinical psychology in 2006 from Baylor University and completed his clinical psychology residency at the Wilford Hall Medical Center, Lackland Air Force Base, TX. Dr. Bryan deployed to Balad, Iraq, in 2009, where he served as the Director of the Traumatic Brain Injury Clinic at the Air Force Theater Hospital. He separated from active duty service shortly after his deployment, and started researching PTSD, suicidal behaviors and suicide prevention strategies, and psychological health and resiliency. He has held faculty appointments at the University of Texas Health San Antonio, the University of Utah, and The Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center, and has managed numerous federally-funded projects in excess of $30 million focused on testing treatments for reducing suicidal behaviors, developing innovative methods to identify and detect high-risk individuals, and facilitating recovery after trauma. Dr. Bryan has published hundreds of peer-reviewed scientific articles. His research has been funded by a wide range of agencies including the Department of Defense, the National Institutes of Health, the Boeing Company, and the Bob Woodruff Foundation, and has been featured in media outlets including Scientific American, CNN, Fox News, NPR, USA Today, the LA Times, the New York Times, and the Washington Post. Dr. Bryan has published over 200 scientific articles and multiple books including Brief Cognitive Behavioral Therapy for Suicide Prevention and Rethinking Suicide.

Dr. Bryan has served as the lead risk management consultant for the $25 million STRONG STAR Research Consortium and the $45 million Consortium to Alleviate PTSD, which investigates treatments for combat-related PTSD among military personnel. Dr. Bryan has served on the Board of Directors of the American Association for Suicidology, the Scientific Advisory Board for the Navy SEAL Foundation, and the Educational Advisory Board of the National Center for PTSD. He has served as a consultant to the Department of Defense, Department of Veterans Affairs, Federal Bureau of Prisons, Avera Health, and Aurora Health Care. For his contributions to mental health and suicide prevention, Dr. Bryan has received numerous awards and recognitions including the Arthur W. Melton Award for Early Career Achievement, the Peter J.N. Linnerooth National Service Award, and the Charles S. Gersoni Military Psychology Award from the American Psychological Association; and the Edwin S Shneidman Award for outstanding contributions to research in suicide from the American Association of Suicidology. He is an internationally recognized expert on suicide prevention, trauma, and resilience.

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