June 22, 2018

Suicides in long increase

Knoema -Suicide in the US is now considered a major public health issue. In 2016, 45,000 Americans took their own lives, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, a 53 percent increase since just 2000.
  • A recent CDC study on trends in suicide rates by US state revealed that in the period from 1999 to 2016 the suicide rate increased in all but one state, Nevada. Among US states, the suicide rate varied from six deaths per 100,000 population in the District of Columbia to 25 in Wyoming.
  • According to the CDC, mental health is just one contributing factor; data from its 27-state study suggests that upwards of 55 percent of suicides in 2015 were linked to substance abuse, health, relationships, work, and finances.
  • While the study also found that the nearly half of those who took their own lives used a firearm, the CDC pointed out that the rising suicide rate is across all methods, not only firearms.
The US is not alone in its struggle to address the underlying causes of suicide and improve access to preventive services. While suicide may only account for 1.5 percent of deaths globally, India reported more than 200,000 suicides in 2015 and China nearly 120,000 in the same year, according to the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation. 

3 comments:

T.W. Day said...

"Mental health issues" has long been the whipping boy for the NRA and America's gun violence problems. There is no effort made in this country to assist people with mental illness and less than no sympathy for their suffering. In my 70 years, I have come to believe that the "Death Centers" in the 1970's movie, "Soylent Green," were as close to civilized as this country is likely to get when it comes to mental illness treatment. In our constant desire to elevate the power and wealth of the 1%, everyone else has been abandoned to their own devices and misery. A society can not make that decision without each of us suffering loss as a result.

Anonymous said...

It's funny how this isn't discussed in gendered terms because it affects men way worse. If women were offing themselves like men, we'd ONLY discuss female suicide and would poo-poo the very notion of discussing mens suicides. But because its overwhelmingly a male problem, that means men and women must be suffering equally. Or something like that.

Let's also not forget the family court's role in this. Men are killing themselves because they are having their families taken away by impulsive, vindictive ex-wives. The wives are backed by the state apparatus that destroys the men and takes everything they have. Then the men are forced to continue to work to provide for the family they don't get to see. All while being told over and over in no-uncertain terms that they are monsters who deserve every bit of suffering they endure.

When does suicide risk peak? Right after a divorce. And we could change this tomorrow if anyone actually cared. But the psychotic feminists in the family courts won't allow it. Women are the majority of voters, so they won't allow it. And milquetoast individuals like the blog poster here just want to wring their hands and be good little 'progressives', so they won't even call out bullshit when they see it.

RIP Robin Williams

Anonymous said...

10:05

That's right blame women. What about all the men who kill themselves but don't have children or ex wives. Suicide is a complex issue, and your reductionist tale does nothing for understanding the majority of male suicides. What about the economy and how it's strangling everyone below the top 5% in this country? What about older men who commit suicide because they can't afford retirement or the costs of healthcare for seniors? Or what about the men who kill themselves because of depression, or addiction. Just because your divorce didn't go well, and you are hurting, doesn't make your situation the only reason a man would commit suicide. By insisting that your situation is the only reason a man would commit suicide, you are dismissing the pain and suffering of most men at risk for suicide. Why would you do that to a brother?