US Suicide Rate Increasing
October 23rd, 2008 |
A GoodTherapy.org News Update Presented by Daniel Brezenoff, LCSW
The suicide rate in the United States is increasing for the first time in a decade, according to a new study at Johns Hopkins that relies on CDC data. The study was remarkable not just for this reversal in trend, but for a demographic surprise: The rate of suicide is increasing fastest among middle-aged white women.
The researchers found that from 1999 to 2005, the overall suicide rate in the United States rose 0.7 percent. However, among middle-aged white women, the annual increase was 3.9 percent; among middle-aged white men it was 2.7 percent.
The study did contain some good news: suicides have declined among the elderly, possibly due to more attention to suicide risk in older adults, resulting in successful interventions with depressed individuals, including mental health services and social supports.
The suicide rate also declined for black Americans and remained stable for Asians and Native Americans.
Among women, “this 40-to-64 age group has been neglected,” said Susan P. Baker, public health professor and lead researcher on the study. “The death rates were higher in elderly white males, and there has been a lot of attention to teenagers and young adults.”
The most frequent method of suicide was using a firearm, although the rate of suicide by this method declined. Suicide by hanging and suffocation rose significantly, accounting for 22 percent of all suicides by 2005. Among men, hanging/suffocation rates increased 6.3 percent annually; among women, the yearly rise was 2.3 percent. Poisoning accounted for 18 percent of suicides, the study found.
The report was published online Oct. 21 in the American Journal of Preventive Medicine.
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16 comments so far
This is very sad to hear. Suicide can take so much away from families and there is rarely any attention given to the subject. Thanks for highlighting what is often a taboo subject but one that needs to be talked about more so that hopefully in recognition of the problem we can prevent more from occurring.
call me old fashioned but I believe the chances for someone to get depressed and irresponsible is more when they have only themselves to think about. Its good to keep busy in a job but nothing gives lasting joy as a family does. . Marriage anchors a person to the realities of life and the joy out of raising children cannot be explained but only felt. I think the government must encourage family life and support breadwinners who try to do an honest job to raise a family. we Americans are going through a terrible economic crisis and we should all stand united in helping each other through these tough times. I believe many suicides are also because of this.
This is only sadly but surely going to grow as the economic situation continues its terrible downturn.
I have never been personally touched by suicide but have known others who have been and they still hurt whenever they have to talk about that painful experience. I cannot help but feel it is one of the most selfish acts that one could undertake and I never do truly understand the reasons behind why one chooses that path. Perhaps as we all do a better job of trying to understand others and each other this is something we can reduce significantly.
i totally agree with Houston. my cousin committed suicide because of pressure in college.my aunt and uncle are old. we rally around but nothing we do can make a single day in their lives worthwhile. what my cousin did was take the smile out of the faces of two lovely people who gave him everything in life
We just place so little value on life these days. It is no wonder that suicide numbers are increasing.
Sam I think that you make an excellent point. There is so little value placed on life today that for some people they have just gotten to the point that they do not care whether or not they live or they die. I think this is indicative of our society as a whole and that is just so sad. Life should be cherished and enjoyed and not only do we need to do this for ourselves but for others. let the loved ones in your life know how important they are to you and how much you value them being in your life. Perhaps we could save someone in this way.
Suicide was never even talked about at my home growing up. It was a bad word I guess. maybe that is why there are still so many questions relating to the topic because it has always been a subject that few people wished to explore. I am a firm believer that in order to make a difference we have to be willing to openly and honestly talk about them and you know there are still those who almost seem embarassed to talk about when they lose someone and it is due to suicide. We have to let the survivors know that it is not their fault. This may help us all begin to better recognize the warning signs that are inevitably going to be there.
There are still people who see suicide as the ultimate sin and therefore not worthy of attention and compassion. I am not one of thse people but I do know that this exists.
It is very sad to think suicide is very common. I really don’t understand and I guess no one else does, what goes through a person’s mind to make them want to commit suicide. I used to believe that it was a selfish act and it was their way of bailing out when times got tough.
I wish people who are in this state of mind would get some professional help. I am sure they are not thinking this at the time, but I really think getting help may help prevent suicide from happening. I can’t believe the rate of suicide today and only pray that the rate doesn’t rise.
I so appreciate the many insightful, compassionate comments this story has generated and inspired.
It’s important to remember that suicides are usually committed by people experiencing not just the severe symptoms of a serious mental illness AND a significant level of social isolation, but also a trigger or crisis that sends them past some point of no return. It’s a triple whammy most people thankfully never experience.
It’s also important to know that the vast majority of people who commit suicide seek help multiple times, and usually let someone know their plans first. That is, suicide is usually preventable but the support network often fails to recognize or take seriously the signs, such as increased depression or sudden mood improvement, giving possessions away, sudden excessive drinking or drugging, statements of hopelessness and helplessness, endless crying, isolating behaviors, and explicit threats of suicide.
It is understandable that some stand outside and criticize the choice to end one’s life; certainly anyone who has lost a friend, relative, or client to suicide knows that those left living often feel hurt, betrayed, confused, or angry at the departed, and these feelings are surely valid. Suicide is often a passive-aggressive act, and is by definition selfish – although sometimes people believe they are doing us a favor by leaving this world – and it especially hurts those who have tried to help and who have been there to support the suffering person so many times.
At the same time, if you’ve never been severely depressed, or never experienced auditory hallucinations every day for many years, or never felt or been utterly alone in the world, or if you’ve never been, for any reason, at the point of feeling your suffering and the suffering you believe you cause others would decrease if you were dead, if you’ve never experienced these thoughts and feelings then, yes, it is virutally impossible to understand how someone could make this tragic choice.
If I had to identify two *social* factors that contribute to our culture’s high rate of suicide (it’s double the homicide rate in the United States, year after year!) they would be:
1. Alienation of all of us, as individuals, from the group, ie: a hyperindividualistic society that expects personal acheivement at a high level from all its members, values an impossible level of material wealth and physical “beauty”, and discourages extended family systems, clan networks, etc – the traditional means of caring for one another. This is inhumane and unnatural.
2. The failure to honor all emotions; the tendency to dismiss “negative” mood states and alienate people who express them; a demeaning of “weakness” or fear and an overvaluing of violence, power, fame, status, sexuality, etc. This is unbalanced, unfulfilling, and unhealthy.
These, along with the prevalence of undiagnosed or misdiagnosed mental illnesses, and the over-reliance on medications to treat those illnesses when they are identified, have helped to create a society replete with barely functioning, unhappy, isolated people.
Maybe President Obama will fix it.
I read recently that suicide rates among young kids and teens are going up as well and this is even more scary. What horrible things have these children seen and had to experience that would lead them to this end? We must become more diligent as a society in protecting our children when it comes to these things and showing them that there are better ways to resolve issues and confront their problems. When an adult takes his or her own life, yes it is devastating, but when a child does the same the grief can be twice as hard to bear. I work with a family whose teenage son committed suicide last year and they are still barely able to function. I wish that more was made of the fact that suicide does not take just one life but many time destroys entire families. There are always so many unanswered questions and a lack of resolution for families that many of them just do not know how to go on.
Yea its sad but if you look around for alot of people life seems to be so much sadder. im 34 years old and I have been out of work for 6 months and i have used all my savings and have nothing left to pay my bills. i am alone where i live and have no one to rely on. I cant find a job doing anything anywhere around my car was totalled 2 months ago so i cant even get around. Does anyone see where im going with this? Just six months ago life was great and i was happy i’ve never felt this bad in my life!
Unfortunately for those who try to commit suicide and fail, there is virtually no chance for a decent life after a recorded suicide attempt. It is virtually impossible to find employment, housing or insurance when a background check turns up a past suicide attempt. No amount of counseling can ever put your life back together.
RFL, can you elaborate on this? My understanding would be that a suicide attempt would not be public record; it’s private health information and I can think of no way an employer would know about it.