In the USA, Suicide ranked 10th leading cause of death. Men and 3.7 times more likely to commit suicide than women. However, women have 3 times higher suicide ideation than men. In the U.S., suicide is the second leading cause of death among age groups 10 and 34.

There is 1 death by suicide every 11 minutes!

Suicide is a serious health problem and can affect any individual irrespective of age group, race, or ethnicity. In 2019, CDC reports state that

• 12 Million American adults sincerely thought about suicide,
• 3.5 Million made a plan layout, of which
• 1.4 Million attempted suicide.
• The number of Emergency Department visits for self-harm injury was 312,000.
• Sucide related dealth accounted for 47,500 in 2019.

Demographic Statistics

The prevalence in the USA demographic – 18.8% of high school students, 11.8% of young adults aged 18 to 25, and 4.8% of all adults. The highest rates of suicide are among American Indian/Alaska Native and non-Hispanic white communities.

LGBTQ youth are 4x more likely to attempt suicide than straight youth. Suicide rates are as high as 46.8% of lesbian, gay, and bisexual high school students, and Transgender adults are nearly 12x more likely to attempt suicide than the general population.

Suicide is also, the leading cause of death for people in local jails.

What to look out for:

As per CDC, it is reported that the main causes of suicides are firearms, suffocation, and poisoning. Firearms suicides accounted for 7.3 per 100,000 is the highest cause of death. The second being suicides caused by suffocations being 4.1 per every 100,000 deaths and the third cause being poisoning accounting for 1.9 per 100,000 deaths.

COVID-19 Impact

Short-term Covid-19 impact on mental health and suicide statistics has had a “Pulling together” effect, a common phenomenon that occurs after natural disasters. This could be a reason for deaths by suicide to decline by 5.6% in 2020.

However, this is only preliminary data. There is still a lack of complete data and the Covid-19 pandemic is still ongoing to understand the impact of a pandemic on mental health and suicides.

Suicide and suicide attempts have a serious emotional impact. People who attempt suicide and survive may have to endure serious consequences that can lead to long-term effects on their physical and emotional health. It is reported that they may also experience mental health concerns including depression. The good news is that more than 90% of suicide survivors would never go on to attempt again.

It is reported that suicides have declined by 5.6% in the initial reports however, as per the CDC reports, in April 2020, the pediatric Emergency Department visits relating to mental health have spiked from 24% to 31% compared to 2019. Covid-19 has caused schools and workplaces to shut down. Many lost jobs and some have been affected by Covid-19 directly or by losing a loved one to the pandemic. These are challenging times and we must keep a lookout for your family and friends who have been impacted by the pandemic.

We Are Only A Call Away!

If you or someone you know are feeling unmotivated, lacking purpose, don’t feel connected to anyone, have lost your loved one, have alcohol or substance abuse, lack sleep, are hearing voices to hurt yourself, showing dangerous or self-harm behavior, threatening or talking about wanting to die, please contact us immediately. We have the best team of Psychiatrists and Therapists on board who can help you with coping with depression.

Suicide Crisis Resources

If you or someone you know is in an Emergency, Call 9-1-1 or National Suicide Prevention Hotline which is available 24/7 at 800-273-8255 Hotline/ chat service

If you’re uncomfortable talking on the phone, you can also text NAMI to 741-741 to be connected to a free, trained crisis counselor on the Crisis Text Line.