1. Suicide is among the top 10 causes of death in the US (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 2020).
2. For adolescents and young adults (10- to 34-year-olds), it is the second most common cause of death (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 2020).
3. Of the top 10 causes of death, deaths by suicide have not decreased over the last ten years even though deaths from all the other nine have decreased.
4. Instead, the suicide rate in the US has INCREASED 33% since 1999 (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention).
5. Over 47,500 people died by suicide in the US in 2019, up from about 41,000 in 2013.
Over 47,500 deaths by suicide each year in the USA. What do you think needs to be done?
Please post your comments at the bottom of this page (under “Leave a Reply”)
Last updated September 2021
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References
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Facts about suicide. Last accessed September 28, 2021.
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Ten leading causes of injury and death.
https://www.cdc.gov/injury/images/lc-charts/leading_causes_of_death_by_age_group_2017_1100w850h.jpg
Swanson JW, Bonnie RJ, Appelbaum PS. Getting Serious About Reducing Suicide: More “How” and Less “Why”. JAMA. 2015 Dec 1;314(21):2229-2230. PubMed PMID: 26524461.
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Do we know what demographics have increased suicide rates? Adolescents? Young adults? Comorbid conditions? We seem to have such a poor understanding of the reasons for increased suicides. I suspect social media may be a contributing factor, as the annual World Happiness Report indicated reduced levels of happiness among young people due to reduced direct socialization. Are broken connections and fractured community causal factors for this increase in suicides?
Can u comment on CAMS-Care? I just learned about it and am not sure why it isn’t more widely used. The initial training is only a few hours. Substance abuse is also a major contributor to more judgment and impulsivity that leads to suicide
Thanks, Dorrie, for your comment. I absolutely agree with you that evidence-based psychotherapies targeting suicide risk are incredibly underutilized. These include Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT), Cognitive Behavior Therapy for Suicide Prevention (CBT-SP), Collaborative Assessment and Management of Suicidality (CAMS), and so on. Also, the number of therapists who have been properly trained in these interventions is amazingly low. For example, I just ran a search on the CAMS website and there is not a single trained therapist in my state of Pennsylvania that comes up in the search!
I find it can make a difference to identify and regularly review clients’ support system/protective factors/safety plan/emergency contacts- to assess how versed client is and to further develop it; encourage therapy or collaborate with the therapist; convey messages of hope and remind the client how much they matter.
This is great information to share with a wider audience. Could you please post on your Facebook page and enable sharing?
Thanks, Marla. The article was posted on our social media sites and those posts are shareable. But, a simpler way would be to post the link to our webpage for this article: https://simpleandpractical.com/suicide. When you post the link on Facebook, it will automatically pull the image from this page. Best wishes, Raj
Pay attention to factors that cause a sense of profound hopelessness in early childhood, ie.father loss by death or abandonment.
Every follow up is exactly the same.
Ask:
Appetite
Sleep
Pain
AVH
depression
Anxiety
Passive death wishes
Suicidal intent
Homicidal intent
I would say half my patients have passive death wishes or perhaps more.
Since all the questions are routine, participants are completely comfortable and relaxed.
Many answer questions without being asked.
I work in community mental health.
Many of the participants have multiple suicide attempts.
And make sure to listen attentively and observe.
A hesitation to a question needs to be followed up.
YOUNG PEOPLE DO NOT UNDERSTAND THE FINALITY OF COMPLETED SUICIDE, THEY JUST WANT TO END THE SUFFERING OR PERHAPS HAVE THE IDEA “I WILL SHOW YOU!” SOMBER ASSEMBLY’S IN SCHOOLS WHERE WE TALK ABOUT THIS MAY HELP. ASSEMBLY’S THAT INCLUDE FAMILIES OF THE DECEASED AND THE LEGACY IT LEAVES. PEOPLE THAT ATTEMPTED AND THEIR TESTIMONY OF THE COGNITIVE DISTORTIONS THEY HAD BEFORE ATTEMPTING. ADDICTION SPECIALISTS. CRISIS LINE NUMBERS. WHAT WORKS INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO STARTING WITH A PERSONAL SPIRITUAL PRACTICE, WHATEVER THAT MAY BE-BEING PART OF SOMETHING BIGGER THAN ONESELF AND THE REALIZATION THAT ANY MAN (OR WOMAN’S) DEATH BY SUICIDE IS A LOSS FOR ALL OF US. THIS PERSON COULD HAVE MADE THE NEXT LIFE-SAVING VACCINE OR SAVED SOMEONE ELSE OR PRODUCED THE NEXT GREAT PERSON. THANKS FOR THIS.
Suicide is common all over the world. I am not sure about USA but the reasons for increased suicide rates in India are; the wide publicity given to suicide on the basis of politics and other social reasons results in distortion of facts. The family members do not provide true facts as they could be implicated. Suicide is mostly a personal decision and we must try to analyse victims psychological profile and discourage unnecessary blame game. Treat depression and other psychiatric illnesses most effectively. Be sensitive to age groups that are more likely to commit suicide. Suicide helplines can be effective.
Increase screening for bipolar depression—all too often bipolar depression continues to be a major missed diagnosis with very negative outcomes including suicide attempts.
That’s a very good point and I completely agree!