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SUICIDE FACTS

• Suicide took the lives of 30,575 Americans in 1998 (11.3 per 100,000 population).¹
• More people die from suicide than from homicide. In 1998, there were 1.7 times as many suicides as homicides.¹
• Overall, suicide is the eighth 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
• 1998, white males accounted for 73% 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 accounted for 64% of all suicides by Native Americans.³
• 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 1998 (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 83% of suicides among persons aged 65 years and older in 1998.¹
• 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 78.0% of male and 34.8% 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 15% of all suicides in 1998.¹ 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 1998, more teenagers and young adults died from suicide than from cancer, heart disease, AIDS, birth defects, stroke, pneumonia and influenza, and chronic lung disease combined.¹
• Among persons aged 15-19 years, firearm-related suicides accounted for 62% 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.

CDC's Program in Suicide Prevention

The National Center for Injury Prevention and Control (NCIPC) is working to raise awareness of suicide as a serious public health problem, and is focusing on science-based prevention strategies to reduce injuries and deaths due to suicide. Current activities include the following:

• The Surgeon General's Call To Action introduces a blueprint for addressing suicide - Awareness, Intervention, and Methodology (AIM), an approach derived from the collaborative deliberations of the 1^st National Suicide Prevention Conference participants. As a framework for suicide prevention, AIM includes 15 key recommendations that were refined from consensus and evidence-based findings presented at the Reno conference.
• A case-control study that is examining possible risk factors for suicide, including alcohol use, exposure to previous suicides, and residential mobility that might lessen opportunities for developing social networks.
• Convening national conferences to exchange information about research and prevention strategies (including the Suicide Prevention Advocacy Network conference held in Reno in October 1998 and the American Indian/Alaska Native Community Suicide Prevention and Network conference held in San Diego in November 1998).
• Support for extramural research that will examine risk factors for suicide in the general population.
• Developed the Suicide Prevention Research Center at the Trauma Institute, University of Nevada School of Medicine.
• Continued support for a Native American suicide prevention center.
• Evaluation of the effectiveness of current suicide prevention programs, including two interventions, one with youth in New York and one with older persons in South Carolina.

Suicide Prevention Materials Published by CDC

• Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Surveillance for Injuries and Violence Among Older Adults. MMWR 1999; 48 (No. SS-8); 27-34.
• Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Suicide Prevention Among Active Duty Air Force Personnel-United States, 1990-1999. MMWR 1999; 48 (No. 46); 1053-1057.
• Crosby AE, Cheltenham MP, Sacks JJ. Incidence of Suicidal Ideation and Behavior in the United States, 1994. Suicide and Life-Threatening Behavior. 1999; 29(2):131-140.
• Rosenberg ML, Mercy JA, Potter LB. Firearms and Suicide. [Editorial]. NEJM 1999;341(21):1609-1611.
• Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Suicide Prevention Evaluation in a Western Athabaskan American Indian Tribe--New Mexico, 1988-1997. MMWR 1998;47 (No. 13);257-261.
• Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Suicide among Black Youths--United States, 1980-1995. MMWR 1998;47(No.10);193-196.
• Wallace LJD, Calhoun AD, Powell KE, O'Neil J, James, SP. Homicide and Suicide among Native Americans, 1979-1992. Atlanta, GA: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Center for Injury Prevention and Control, 1996. Violence Surveillance Summary Series, No. 2.
• Kachur SP, Potter LB, James SP, Powell KE. Suicide in the United States, 1980-1992. Atlanta: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Center for Injury Prevention and Control, 1995. Violence Surveillance Summary, No.1.
• Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Suicide among children, adolescents, and young adults--United States, 1980-1992. MMWR 1995; 44:289-291.
• Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Programs for the prevention of suicide among adolescents and young adults; and suicide contagion and the reporting of suicide: recommendations from a national workshop. MMWR 1994; 43 (No.RR-6).
• Potter LB, Powell KP, Kachur SP. Suicide prevention from a public health perspective. Suicide and Life-Threatening Behavior. 1995; 25(1):82-91.

Resources

• Reporting on Suicide: Consensus Recommendations The media play a powerful role in educating the public about suicide prevention. Stories about suicide inform readers and/or viewers about the likely causes of suicide, warning signs, trends in suicide rates, and recent advances in treatment. Media are able to reach multiple audiences about ways to prevent suicide. These recommendations will help guide the media to educate readers and viewers about the steps they can take to prevent suicide.
• National Strategy for Suicide Prevention

Goals and Objectives for Action
www.mentalhealth.org/suicideprevention/
• National Suicide Prevention Strategy

www.sg.gov/library/calltoaction/strategymain.htm
• Suicide Prevention Advocacy Network (SPAN) www.spanusa.org/home.htm
• American Association of Suicidology

www.suicidology.org or call 1-202-237-2280
• National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH)

www.nimh.nih.gov
• Substance Abuse and Mental Health Administration (SAMHSA)

www.samhsa.gov
• American Foundation for Suicide Prevention

www.afsp.org

References

1. CDC unpublished mortality data from the National Center for Health Statistics (NCHS) Mortality Data Tapes.
2. Suicide & Life Threatening Behavior 28(1):1-23, 1998.
3. CDC, Violence Surveillance Summary Series, No. 2. 1996.
4. MMWR 46(34):789-792, 1997.
5. Am J Public Health 81:1198-1200, 1991.
6. MMWR 45(1):3-6, 1996.
7. Aging & Mental Health 1(2):107-111, 1997.
8. MMWR 44(15):289-291, 1995.
9. MMWR 47(10):193-196, 1998.

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
National Center for Injury Prevention and Control