US suicides hit an all-time high last year
US suicides hit an all-time high last year
About 49,500 people took their own lives last year in the U.S., the highest number ever. That's according to new government data posted Thursday.
All-time high nominally or 'inflation adjusted' for the extra population growth? In a growing population I would expect just about every year to be a record.
If society was functioning correctly, the number should be going down. The field of psychology has advanced over the years and treatment options have increased. Welcome to late stage capitalism.
The current suicide rate of 16.1 per 100k is the highest since at least 2000.
Can't say it doesn't make sense. Not exactly a lot going on around us to make anyone think the world is going to get better.
Looks like it is basically not changed. I downloaded the data and compared it against US population census data from https://population.un.org/wpp/
Year 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 (forecasted) Suicides 4.834x10^4 4.751x10^4 4.598x10^4 4.818x10^4 4.945x10^4 5.029x10^4 Population 3.321x10^8 3.343x10^8 3.359x10^8 3.370x10^8 3.383x10^8 3.400x10^8 Rate per 100k 14.6 14.2 13.7 14.3 14.6 14.8 If anything it dipped during the pandemic and is returning to "normal" (although I can't see before 2018).
Was curious so did some digging, this article did a write up: “Provisional CDC data show that the number of suicide deaths in 2022 is the highest recorded, exceeding the next closest year (2018) by over 1,000 deaths (Figure 1). When adjusted for population growth and age, the suicide rate has risen by 16% from 2011 to 2022, moving from 12.3 to 14.4 deaths per 100,000 individuals. Looking back further to 1999, there is a substantial 37% increase from a rate of 10.57 per 100,000. Notably, while 2022 had the highest recorded number of suicide deaths, its rate is similar to 2018 (14.5 in 2022 vs. 14.2 in 2018 per 100,000) but higher than the rate in 2020—the year before suicide deaths began to climb again. Increases in the number of suicide deaths follow high levels of mental health symptoms during COVID, rising financial stressors, and longstanding difficulty accessing needed mental health care—particularly for some populations. Total suicide numbers may be undercounted, as some research suggests that suicides may be misclassified as drug overdose deaths since it can be difficult to determine whether drug overdoses are intentional.”
Many prefer to leave with dignity and some control over their final comfort rather than suffer the bigotry, impoverishment, healthcare injustice or climate disasters brought by decades of harm by conservatives and their billionaire benefactors.
We are losing the wrong people.
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I feel that. I have bouts of really strong suicidal ideation once or twice a year that last 3-4 weeks. Been that way since ~2018. Ngl it's harder and harder every time one of those moods come around. The only reason I'm still here is because of my parents, wife and cats. Hopefully that continues to be a good enough reason because god knows I can't afford a psychiatrist, therapist, or meds
Honestly? Not surprising considering the state of the world. Things are shit and only getting shittier. If someone wants out, they should have the right to do so safe and painlessly.