Spirituality, Meaning, and Suicide

Kopacz and Connery (2015) and Bryan, Graham, and Roberge (2015) each contributed rich discussions about key issues related to integrating spirituality into efforts to curb suicide rates among military veterans and active duty personnel. While both commentaries highlighted how varying dimensions of spirituality may decrease and/or exacerbate suicide risk in some cases, the authors seemed to differ on the role of religion/spirituality in shaping global beliefs/values and how spirituality factors might influence attempts at meaning making. This response article will summarize several points of convergence/divergence between the articles in this round table and raise questions about the possible reciprocal association between meaning and spirituality among many veterans and service members who might be at greatest risk for suicide.