Facts
About Suicide from the Center for Disease Control
Suicide in the United States
The
Problem
- Suicide took
the lives of 29,199 Americans in 1999.1
- More people
die from suicide than from homicide. In 1999, there
were 1.7 times as many suicides as homicides.1
- Overall,
suicide is the 11th leading cause of death for all
Americans, and is the third leading cause of death
for young people aged 15-24.1
- Males are four
times more likely to die from suicide than are
females.1 However, females are more likely to
attempt suicide than are males.2
- 1999, white
males accounted for 72% of all suicides. Together,
white males and white females accounted for over 90%
of all suicides.1 However, during the period from
1979-1992, suicide rates for Native Americans (a
category that includes American Indians and Alaska
Natives) were about 1.5 times the national rates.
There was a disproportionate number of suicides
among young male Native Americans during this
period, as males 15-24
- Suicide rates
are generally higher than the national average in
the western states and lower in the eastern and
Midwestern states.4
- Nearly 3 of
every 5 suicides in 1999 (57%) were committed with a
firearm.1
Suicide Among the Elderly
- Suicide rates
increase with age and are highest among Americans
aged 65 years and older. The ten year period,
1980-1990, was the first decade since the 1940s that
the suicide rate for older residents rose instead of
declined.5
- Men accounted
for 84% of suicides among persons aged 65 years and
older in 1999.1
- From
1980-1998, the largest relative increases in suicide
rates occurred among those 80-84 years of age. The
rate for men in this age group increased 17% (from
43.5 per 100,000 to 52.0).1,6
- Firearms were
the most common method of suicide by both males and
females, 65 years and older, 1998, accounting for
78.5% of male and 35.0% of female suicides in that
age group.1
- Suicide rates
among the elderly are highest for those who are
divorced or widowed. In 1992, the rate for divorced
or widowed men in this age group was 2.7 times that
for married men, 1.4 times that for never-married
men, and over 17 times that for married women. The
rate for divorced or widowed women was 1.8 times
that for married women and 1.4 times that for
never-married women.6
- Risk factors
for suicide among older persons differ from those
among the young. Older persons have a higher
prevalence of depression, a greater use of highly
lethal methods and social isolation. They also make
fewer attempts per completed suicide, have a
higher-male-to-female ratio than other groups, have
often visited a health-care provider before their
suicide, and have more physical illnesses.7
Suicide Among the Young
- Persons under
age 25 accounted for 14% of all suicides in 1999.1
From 1952-1995, the incidence of suicide among
adolescents and young adults nearly tripled. From
1980-1997, the rate of suicide among persons aged
15-19 years increased by 11% and among persons aged
10-14 years by 109%. From 1980-1996, the rate
increased 105% for African-American males aged
15-19.1,8
- For young
people 15-24 years old, suicide is the third leading
cause of death, behind unintentional injury and
homicide. In 1999, more teenagers and young adults
died from suicide than from cancer, heart disease,
AIDS, birth defects, stroke, and chronic lung
disease combined.1
- Among persons
aged 15-19 years, firearm-related suicides accounted
for more than 60% of the increase in the overall
rate of suicide from 1980-1997.1
- The risk for
suicide among young people is greatest among young
white males; however, from 1980 through 1995,
suicide rates increased most rapidly among young
black males.9 Although suicide among young children
is a rare event, the dramatic increase in the rate
among persons aged 10-14 years underscores the
urgent need for intensifying efforts to prevent
suicide among persons in this age group.
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