The rate of suicide in the U.S. reached a 30-year high in 2014, according to a recent study conducted by the National Center for Health Statistics and covered by The New York Times.
Here are four things to know about suicide in America.
1. Key findings: From 1999 to 2014, the suicide rate in the United States increased by 24 percent from 10.5 to 13 per 100,000 people. The rate of increase accelerated greatly after 2006. The increase in suicide rates for females was most substantial among ages 10 to 14. For males, the increase was most sharp between ages 45 to 64. Over 55 percent of male suicides in 2014 involved the use of firearms. With a frequency rate of 34.1 percent, poisoning was the most frequent method of suicide for females in the same year.
2. Racial demographics: Native Americans had the most pronounced upsurge in suicide of all racial groups — 89 percent increase for women and 38 percent increase for men. White middle-aged women had an increase of 80 percent. The only ethnic group that exhibited suicide reduction was African-American men.
3. Why: Some suggest this report adds to the accumulating evidence of the mental health issues currently plaguing under-educated whites, according to the Times, which asserted that though the report did not break down suicide rates by education, expert reviewers of the analysis said the data was consistent with evidence of accumulating desperation among under-educated and lower-income Americans. "This is part of the larger emerging pattern of evidence of the links between poverty, hopelessness and health," Robert D. Putnam, PhD, a professor of public policy at Harvard University in Cambridge, Mass., told the Times.
4. Solutions: In addition to economic pressures and rising rates of drug abuse, flaws in the way the U.S. healthcare system addresses suicide is likely not helping the situation. While some hospitals and health systems screen for suicidal warning signs and implement treatment programs to address the problem, others do not. Jane Pearson, PhD, chairwoman of the National Institute of Mental Health's Suicide Research Consortium, told the Times, "We have more and more effective treatments, but we have to figure out how to bake them into healthcare systems so they are used more automatically...we've got bits and pieces, but we haven't really put them all together yet."
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