Suicide Rates Are Rising In Nearly Every State, CDC Says

Suicide rates are climbing in nearly every demographic, age group and geographic area, according to new data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Deaths by suicide have increased by around 30% since 1999, claiming nearly 45,000 lives in 2016, according to the report. Those trends apply to nearly every segment of the U.S. population: Suicide rates have increased in 44 states, among all racial and ethnic groups and in every age range except adults older than 75. In half of all states, suicide rates increased by 30% or more. “This is essentially a problem everywhere—a problem that’s getting worse,” says Dr. Anne Schuchat, principal deputy director of CDC. The report also looked at people who died by suicide in 27 states, and found that more than half (54%) did not have a known mental health condition, highlighting the complicated nature of suicide. Most cases, Schuchat says, can’t be traced back to one single cause or trigger. “It’s important that we think about this in more broad terms than just as a mental health condition,” Schuchat says. “Even people who seem that they’re happy, seem that they’re functioning, seem that they don’t have severe depression evident, or at least diagnosed, may be close to taking these extreme measures.” Many people who died by suicide, according to the report, had recently experienced difficult life events such as relationship problems, physical a...
Source: TIME: Health - Category: Consumer Health News Authors: Tags: Uncategorized healthytime onetime public health Source Type: news