Hollywood, MD – In the United States, suicide has been on the rise since 1999. According to the Centers for Disease Control (CDC), the ages of the individuals creating the rise are between 10 and 74 years old. In 2014, the CDC found that out of every 100,000 people, 13 committed suicide.
All walks of life are included in this statistic which makes it very hard to focus on a certain group. However, the largest increases were with Native Americans and Alaska Natives. Possibly, this could be because they have greater access to lethal weapons. In regards to these two groups, women escalated to 60 percent of the past suicide rate and men 28 percent.
Suicide is the tenth leading cause of death in the United States. Sadly, the biggest increase in suicide rates are middle aged and young women with a 45 percent rate (young women) to 63 percent (middle aged) since 1999. Among women, the most common form of suicide was poison.
While men come in a close second, their tendency to use firearm-related suicide is still very high. Although all firearm-related suicides have been on the decline, suffocation has increased (hanging). Psychologically, women tend to use poisoning as opposed to a firearms to preserve the way they look as society maintains a certain status of vanity for this gender.
Prevention efforts for this issue have been bumped up by many agencies. Treating mental health disorders and monitoring medication is key. Unfortunately, men tend to have a harder time seeking help which is why the rate is so high, especially in middle aged men.
If you need help with any mental health or thoughts of suicide, visit: https://www.lifeline.org.au/Get-Help/Facts—Information/Preventing-Suicide/Preventing-Suicide
