Suicide.
It remains a topic few health professionals want to discuss openly with their patients. It remains a topic avoided even by many mental health professionals. Policy makers see it as a black hole without an obvious solution.
And now grim new statistics confirm a disturbing trend — more people are taking their own lives than ever before in the U.S.
The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention released statistics yesterday showing that 33,687 people died in motor vehicle accidents, while nearly 5,000 more — 38,364 — died by suicide. Middle-aged Americans are making up the biggest leap in the suicide rate.
It’s data that should make us sit up and think.
The New York Times has the story:
From 1999 to 2010, the suicide rate among Americans ages 35 to 64 rose by nearly 30 percent, to 17.6 deaths per 100,000 people, up from 13.7. Although suicide rates are growing among both middle-aged men and women, far more men take their own lives. The suicide rate for middle-aged men was 27.3 deaths per 100,000, while for women it was 8.1 deaths per 100,000.
The most pronounced increases were seen among men in their 50s, a group in which suicide rates jumped by nearly 50 percent, to about 30 per 100,000. For women, the largest increase was seen in those ages 60 to 64, among whom rates increased by nearly 60 percent, to 7.0 per 100,000.
What’s the cause of the rise in suicides in this country? Nobody can say for sure, but the CDC officials have some ideas:
But C.D.C. officials cited a number of possible explanations, including that as adolescents people in this generation also posted higher rates of suicide compared with other cohorts.
“It is the baby boomer group where we see the highest rates of suicide,” said the C.D.C.’s deputy director, Ileana Arias. “There may be something about that group, and how they think about life issues and their life choices that may make a difference.”
The rise in suicides may also stem from the economic downturn over the past decade. Historically, suicide rates rise during times of financial stress and economic setbacks. “The increase does coincide with a decrease in financial standing for a lot of families over the same time period,” Dr. Arias said.
Another factor may be the widespread availability of opioid drugs like OxyContin and oxycodone, which can be particularly deadly in large doses.
Men continue to prefer using a firearm to kill themselves at a rate far higher than all other methods combined (suffocation comes in a far second). Women prefer, instead, to poison themselves, followed by the use of a firearm. Suffocation (predominantly hanging) has risen as the new preferred method for committing suicide, rising 75 percent among men and 115 percent among women in the ten years studied.
Because the reasons for most people’s suicides are fairly complex, targeting new prevention methods and public educational campaigns to this problem is difficult. While suicide is most often the result of untreated or undertreated depression, getting more people who are suicidal to seek out treatment (or enhanced treatment) remains a challenge.
That does not mean we shouldn’t try, however. If anything, such reports point to the need of a redoubled effort to helping those in desperate need of intervention. Suicide is preventable, if only society put forward more effort to care and reach out to those in need. And not through the use of bandaid suicide crisis hotlines, but through the greater access of compassionate mental health treatment.
Read the article: Suicide Rate Rises Sharply in U.S.
Read the CDC Report: Suicide Among Adults Aged 35 — 64 Years — United States, 1999 — 2010
8 comments
“Since the end of World War II, our society has experienced striking changes in family and child-rearing patterns:
• The institution of the nuclear family has been in steady decline….
• Alternative family structures have led to situations in which many children are raised by persons other than their birth parents….
• The number of women working outside the home has increased dramatically. Forty percent of working women are mothers of children under age eighteen; 71 percent of all single mothers are employed.
• Children than ever before are being placed in various forms of day care—and at a much earlier age. The number of infants in day care increased 45 percent during the 1980s…..
•The evidence clearly suggests that the incidence of child physÂical and sexual abuse has increased significantly over the past twenty-five years….
What are the psychological effects of these child-rearing changes on both children and parents? Though many of these changes (such as blended families,) are too new to be the subject of intensive long-term studies, psychiatrists and developmental experts generally agree that children growing up in settings marked by turmoil, instability, or abuse are at much greater risk for emotional and mental problems in adolescence and adulthood. Moreover, parents in such environÂments are much more likely to develop stress, guilt, depression, lower self-esteem—all characteristics associated with BPD.†“I Hate You Don’t Leave Me Understanding The Borderline Personalityâ€- Jerold J. Kreisman, MD, and Hal Straus (1989)
So tell me again, what 25 yrs later we are still asking “why is this happening?â€. Really, we don’t know?
Bingo! The modern liberal welfare state is a horror. They strip all dignity. The CDC’s explanations are a joke.
Personally, I rather cherish my right to commit suicide. I don’t want any death panels making these decisions for me but I reserve the right for myself. I hope I never find myself in such a hopeless situation that I decide to act on it BUT you are not truly free unless you have the right to end your own life. I guess I would prefer to just go to sleep in a happy drug haze however, I would be OK with a firearm too if it came to that.
The only problem with this explanation is that most of the suicides are committed by Baby Boomers. Most Baby Boomers had very traditional and conservative upbringings.
Suicide happens, I believe, when there is no hope left for that person, no out to their situation as they believe.
Our society has not placed relationship support and authenticity as strengths in America. The independent success story is still honored. How does a life have true health when the dysfunctional and lopsided belief of ‘go it alone’ cool persona is admired. We actually are made to depend on on one another for survival and community.
Another reason is the amount of drug use, which was not mentioned very much in the article. Both Baby Boomers and the young use too many drugs either by choice or prescription. This has to affect the chemistry in the brain.
Most of the suicides are committed by Baby Boomers. Most Baby Boomers had very traditional and conservative upbringings.
Suicide happens, I believe, when there is no hope left for that person, no out to their situation as they believe.
Our society has not placed relationship support and authenticity as strengths in America. The independent success story is still honored. How does a life have true health when the belief of ‘go it alone’ cool persona is admired. We actually are made to depend on on one another for survival and community.
We relate to one another with our image and supposed self more then how we are really feeling or what is actually happening in our lives. Often, we live lonely lives even when surrounded with people. It is viewed as weakness or our fault by others or even just ourselves, when we fail or transition. We are always looking for more, better, bigger to fill the meaning of our lives.
It is healthy to have friends and family really be there to help through those dark times.To know that you are needed as well. What if you do not have that, or believe you don;t have that?
It is healthy to find what brings productivity to make a community, city, work together. It is important to strive for ethical behavior and to demand it from leaders or those in charge.
Many are depressed because this nation has been deceptive more so as of late. We hear of crimes committed by our political system, banks, religious leaders , health systems and so forth. Let’s not forget the young in the recent wars left to themselves dealing with this travesty.
Cost of living becomes stressful for many. Many lost their life’s work and savings by the greed of corporate and criminal behavior from the very organizations we are supposed to trust. This devastation has shown no consequences for the guilty. It has left a sick society by example of how to succeed to many . It trickles down an exploitive and immoral response .
Good , hardworking and well educated people are suffering from this corruption , people that care about their communities,families and responsibilities are suffering from this corruption. We are exhausted from this , many see no change, can not cope and feel alone in it.
Another reason is the amount of drug use. Both Baby Boomers and the young use too many drugs either by choice or prescription. There are more prescription drug addictions then any other time.
A sick society looks for ways to end anxiety, depression and pain .This has to affect the chemistry in the brain.
We are an unhealthy society in a lot of pain and need to learn how to help one another. We need to stop corruption and we ned to become involved in the greater society, the greater good for productivity and hope. We need to think of the legacy we are leaving behind as a goal in our behaviors and what we allow others to get away with. We need to teach our young by example.
The Six Reasons People Attempt Suicide
1.They’re depressed.
2.They’re psychotic.
3.They’re impulsive.
4.They’re crying out for help,
5.They have a philosophical desire to die.
6.They’ve made a mistake.
Awesome article. The statistics really show the hidden truth of suicide. But any how we should decrease the higher suicide rate.
Thanks.
Not a surprising news! I knew it even if I know how many car accident cases are reported and filed every single day..
Great one. Well, before anything else, we should consider first the mental stability of a person. well, it should be assess first.