Is it the economy or what? America’s suicide rate is up — especially among Baby Boomers. And more people now die of suicide than car accidents:
More people now die of suicide than in car accidents, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, which published the findings in Friday’s issue of its Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report. In 2010 there were 33,687 deaths from motor vehicle crashes and 38,364 suicides.
Traditionally suicide was seen mainly a problem among teens and the elderly. But now we see a shift:
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.
Suicide rates can be difficult to interpret because of variations in the way local officials report causes of death. But C.D.C. and academic researchers said they were confident that the data documented an actual increase in deaths by suicide and not a statistical anomaly. While reporting of suicides is not always consistent around the country, the current numbers are, if anything, too low.
“It’s vastly underreported,” said Julie Phillips, an associate professor of sociology at Rutgers University who has published research on rising suicide rates. “We know we’re not counting all suicides.”
The reasons for suicide are often complex, and officials and researchers acknowledge that no one can explain with certainty what is behind the rise. 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.
Washington Monthly’s Kathleen Greier:
How many people in this country will end their working lives having seen a significant decline in their living standards, relative to the standards their parents enjoyed? For the first time in America, declining economic mobility is a reality for many of us. The dashed dreams and expectations so many Americans are experiencing may explain much of the increased suicide rate. This economy is literally killing us.
Oregon’s suicide rate is among the highest in the nation:
New figures show a sharp rise in suicides among middle-aged Americans, and an even bigger increase in Oregon. A Centers for Disease Control and Prevention report shows suicides among men and women aged 35-64 increased 49 percent in Oregon from 1999-2010, compared to 28 percent nationally.
For years, Oregon has ranked between seventh and ninth in the country for suicides. In 2011, 685 Oregonians killed themselves, twice the number who died in vehicle crashes and six times the homicide rate. In 2012, the number climbed to 709 people who took their own lives, according to preliminary numbers. Oregon’s suicide rate has been increasing since 2000.
The financial cost is high. In 2010, self-inflicted injury hospitalization costs exceeded $41 million.
“Are we doing enough to prevent suicides? I would say not,” says Lisa Millet, a suicide expert who manages the Injury and Violence Prevention Section of the Oregon Health Authority’s Public Health Division.
“The whole field of prevention is so young, maybe 10, 15 years old,” she says. “We haven’t developed prevention strategies. One of the things that’s sadly true, doctors, nurses, social workers, mental health practitioners, none of these people get adequate training.”
Meanwhile, on the international suicide watch front, note this news from South Korea:
Suicide overthrew traffic accidents as the number one cause of death among South Korea’s youth, according to a recent statistical analysis.
As of 2013, individuals aged nine to 24 make up 20 percent of South Korea’s total population, a number that is low for the country’s standards in the past. A contributing factor may be the drop in successful marriages, which means a decline in birthrates over the past few generations.The results of a statistical analysis conducted by Statistics Korea claim that for every 100,000 deaths, 13 were attributed to suicide in 2011. Coming in second with 7.8 tallies was traffic accidents followed by cancer with 3.8 tallies and heart disease with one tally.
Problems at home and violence in schools were offered as possible causes for the dramatic spike in teen suicides. Suicide rates in the country were on the rise during the 90s until leveling off around 1998. Reports of suicide soon took off again in 2000.
Joe Gandelman is a former fulltime journalist who freelanced in India, Spain, Bangladesh and Cypress writing for publications such as the Christian Science Monitor and Newsweek. He also did radio reports from Madrid for NPR’s All Things Considered. He has worked on two U.S. newspapers and quit the news biz in 1990 to go into entertainment. He also has written for The Week and several online publications, did a column for Cagle Cartoons Syndicate and has appeared on CNN.