Navy sailors experience higher rates of depression, insomnia: survey

This photo shows troops taking part in joint landing drills, Nov. 17. Courtesy of the Marine Corps

More personnel serving in the Navy have experienced depression and insomnia than those in the Army and Air Force, a survey showed Monday, apparently due to their military service environment on warships.

The survey showed that 8.2 percent of Navy sailors said they've felt depressed, higher than 4.8 percent for soldiers in the Army and 3.9 percent in the Air Force, according to the survey whose outcome was reported to Rep. Hwang Hee of the ruling Democratic Party of Korea.

The survey was conducted by the defense ministry on the mental health of 4,497 personnel, including 2,353 in the Army and 709 in the Navy, from June 24 to Dec. 31, 2024.

It also showed 7.9 percent of Navy personnel reported feeling insomnia, compared with 5.5 percent of those in the Army and 5.7 percent in the Air Force.

"Complex factors, such as the military service environment on warships, are presumed to have an effect," a military official said when speaking about the reasons for the results.

Meanwhile, the Marines reported having an issue with a smoking dependency problem at a higher rate than other units at 23.1 percent, while 9.7 percent of Air Force personnel identified as high-risk groups in smartphone addiction, surpassing the 7.8 percent average.