Suicide, Not Car Crashes, #1 Cause of Injury Death in US

Suicide, Not Car Crashes, #1 Cause of Injury Death

Suicide has overtaken car crashes as the leading cause of injury-related deaths in the U.S.

While public health efforts have curbed the number of car fatalities by 25% over the last decade, a new study shows suicide deaths rose by 15% during the same period.

In addition, deaths from unintentional poisoning and falls have also increased dramatically in recent years.

Researchers found deaths caused by accidental poisoning and falls increased by 128% and 71%, respectively.

The article continues:

In the study, researchers looked at cause of death data from the National Center for Health Statistics from 2000 to 2009.

“Contrasting with disease mortality, the injury mortality rate trended upward during most of that decade,” write the researchers.

The top five leading causes of injury-related deaths were:

Suicide
Motor vehicle crashes
Poisoning
Falls
Homicide

Researchers say the findings demonstrate that suicide is now a global public health issue.

“Our finding that suicide now accounts for more deaths than do traffic crashes echoes similar findings for the European Union, Canada, and China,” they write.

So this is really a global phenomenon.

reply to post by loam


I normally am skeptical when base statistics get cited - as I am aware they can be manipulated and skewed. But this is one that I feel is probably fairly accurate. Suicides are up in my community and, through my participation at the local mental health clinic, I can also directly report that suicidal ideation is becoming a LOT more common - even in folks with no history of them.

In the US - and I would guess in several middle eastern nations - we have the added problem of combat PTSD - which has a very high suicide risk.

Then there is the multiple level global meltdown... Financial issues, uprisings, religious wars, regime changes... a lot happening and people, generally, do not react well to change. Fear is becoming the new currency of our age and it is claiming victims.

A conspiracy minded person who is interested in mental warfare might be prone to think this to be by design. An act to reduce the "herd" and to dis-empower the masses through demoralization.

~Heff

reply to post by Hefficide


Reading further, it's interesting to note there is also the claim that MANY deaths deemed accidental are actually suicides, which would push the numbers even further north.

Makes me want to revisit this thread and reassess somewhat.

reply to post by loam

Im not shocked at all to hear this statistic...

Interesting statistics.
I wonder if the statistics are similar for the UK, I would bet they are.

Personally I know a lot more people that feel they are being pushed beyond their breaking point now then ever before, either through financial problems causing stress on relationships or unemployment or just through a general feeling of hopelessness that seems to be creeping through society.

reply to post by davespanners

Deaths: Statistics Dept, UK Govt website.

The suicide rate in the UK (per 100,000) is on the decline. Alcohol-related deaths are rising. For males it has gone up almost 100% in under 20 years, for females it's increased almost as much (though total female death rates from alcohol still run at about half the male rate.)

However, the problem is that the actual rate doesn't always tell the whole story, because it has to be considered against the "raw" death rate (ie deaths from all causes -- aka "all-age-all-cause-mortality"). I'm still trying to get that piece of data off the site, so if you or anyone can find it then that will help. I'd expect the raw rate/100,000 would be going down, but the key will be the difference between the suicide rate's decline and that rate.

As the economy keeps bouncing and tanking we will see more of this.

Suicide rates fluctuate with economic cycles, rising sharply during recessions and falling during expansions, according to a recent study by the Centers for Disease Control. Published online in the American Journal of Public Health, the study, “Impact of Business Cycles on US Suicide Rates, 1928-2007,” found the greatest spike in suicides during economic downturns to be among 25-64 year olds, prime working ages. Researchers examined suicide data from nearly eight decades and among various age groups to determine relationships between incidences and business cycles. During the Great Depression, in 1929-1933, suicide rates jumped to over twenty percent, the highest levels ever reached during a four-year period, the findings showed. The widespread unemployment and devastating stock-market crash that toppled individual savings and nationwide investments lead to the longest and harshest depression of that century. Elevated suicide rates were also identified during the 1972-1975 Oil Crisis when an oil embargo caused skyrocketing gas prices and severe inflation. Similarly, the Double Dip Recession of 1980-1982 triggered suicides as the nation struggled with back-to-back losses in two quarters of 1980.

Suicide Rates Up During Recession

With all the doom and gloom in the air and seasonal depression on its way I imagine this will only get worse.

Times are truly depressing for many families everywhere. Average folks have it very rough anymore and some politicians and their soulless supporters (cough, cough, from the Right and the CONservatives) want to INCREASE their burden even more and take away any safeguards in place to cushion the always likely fall that can occur to ANY OF US at ANY time!!!!

Its a bad world to live in when so many average good and decent folks have no choice but to off themselves, while greedy corrupt scumbags are living on top of the world and cant get enough. Then the 'cherry-on-top' of it all is our sell-out politicians from a certain party who are fighting tooth and nail for this to continue on...

The military is also seeing record rates of suicides among active duty personnel.

I won't pretend to have any explanation of these increased rates, I never could understand why someone would off themselves.
But I can't bring myself to have any pity for someone that chooses that path either, it just doesn't compute.

Do you think that there is a possible correlation between the rise in secular beliefs (and therefore no longer any fear of Divine Reprimand) and the rise is Suicide rates?

Here is a link from wiki about motor vehicle deaths:
en.wikipedia.org ...

According to the linked data, 410,838 people died between 2000-2009 from motor vehicle accidents. Note that dropoff in deaths between 2007 and 2009. This is probably economic related since the gas prices went up dramatically around that time period and there was much economic worry. Also note that motor vehicle deaths was 51,091 in 1980, much higher than in 2000. This trend goes all the way back to the mid to late 1960's and then it falls before that, never to rise to similar levels.

According to some sites I've found, the suicide rate has hovered around 20,000-30,000 for a long while. But lately it has been able to eclipse motor vehicle deaths. However, the combined suicide deaths from the past 10-20 years are still significantly below the combined motor vehicle deaths.

If you add up the military engagements and the sluggish economy, I think this explains it. This is especially true when the foreclosures happened. And the bankruptcies.

In fact, here is a 2009 news article about the bad economy and the suicide rate:
news.xinhuanet.com - Bad economy blamed for high suicide rate in U.S ....

And have a look at this:
www.kpbs.org - Bad Economy Heightens Suicide Risk ...

Interesting, more military veterans died from suicide than in the Iraq and Afghanistan wars:
en.wikipedia.org ...

According to this, 82,724 people died in 2010 from adverse events related to prescription drugs:
www.fda.gov - AERS Patient Outcomes by Year...

I am not shocked at all. Have you looked at the world around you? It sucks!! We are all literally prisoners with the freedom of movement. I am 40 years old now and I can not envision a time where I will be able to retire. The cost of living continues to rise and wages do not. Here in the US if you have a job- your paying into a system that on a daily basis you hear is going broke.

Who here actually thinks they will be able to collect or survive on Social Security when you finally reach a point where you can no longer work?

I have been on my own since I was 13 years old. I have fought my whole life to simply survive and it is getting harder and harder every day. It is no shock to me why some would just choose to stop fighting.

reply to post by loam



My country (Uruguay) is the one with the biggest rate of suicide in South America.
Its interesting considering the population of it its only 3 million and something.

They say the cause for most is some kind of psychological disorder. Interesting. So are we all depressive lunatics? :p

The most used way is hanging, 2nd comes self-shot.


S&F

The article also mentions a 71% increase in death from falls...I'd be interested to see the breakdown for increase/decrease in suicide by age group broken down.

Perhaps a chunk of this isn't related to the economy as suggested, rather it's due to the fact that people are living longer...perhaps there are more old people who lose their will to keep going at such an old age...lost their significant other, or family/friends...whatever...so they off their selves.

Something I neglected to mention in my first post is information overload. We currently live in a society where we are literally inundated with media - nearly every waking moment. And our media tends to curry to what we, as consumers react to... and the sad truth is that we all rubberneck at car wrecks. We have a weird obsessive thing about morbid curiosity. This manifests, in media, as a LOT of negative news stories. It's all doom and gloom.

I think a lot of people sink into despair simply because they are being subjected to an inordinate amount of negativity and not finding ways to balance it out with positives. They're being pulled into the dark by the very media they trust to distract them from their own real life woes. Escapism isn't what it used to be.

~Heff

reply to post by loam

Honestly the world seems to get harder and harder each day and some people just don't have the willpower to keep fighting.Truth be told i kind of admire that kind of bravery to face death like that because i don't think i would have the courage to take my own life

reply to post by loam


Sad state of affairs, isn't it...

I have a feeling that it's not going to get any better any time soon. Life is wonderful but the way we live, sucks. For the majority, it really does. When did it ever happen in our history that so many people wish for the s*** to hit the fan? Wishing for a global catastrophe or the end of the world? I find it alarming.

I also find that these numbers could be lower than what they really are.

Motor vehicle crashes - how many are suicides?

Poisoning - does that include prescription drugs? If so, how many are suicides?

Falls - does that include down bridges?

Homicide - does that include the family drama where one kills his family and then offs himself?

No, it's not about to get better.

When I was three years old my father committed suicide. When I was a senior in high school my life long best friend committed suicide. In May the mother of my four year old committed suicide. Two others I was close to also have committed suicide. I am somewhat of an expert on the subject. From what I have learned, suicide is the end result of mental illness, just as other forms of death (heart, lung, liver failure) are the end result of other diseases. I have read a ton about the rise in suicide rates the past couple years. It's an epidemic in Greece. The thing that is often overlooked is what it does to survivors, those left behind. I am 4 months into a new life. One where my soul mate is gone and I am raising a young child alone, a child that very much misses his mother. It's common for the survivors to suffer mental illnesses (depression, PTSD, attachment issues) and this leads to other losses in the quality of their lives, health and finances. I am a long ways from recovering from my lose. I encourage survivors and those who are considering suicide to seek help. There are many groups out there including:
Alliance of Hope
Survivors of Suicide
American Foundation for Suicide Prevention
It is a daily struggle to even bother sometimes. I have learned many things that help. I would do anything to prevent others from going through what I have gone through. Seek help if you need it. If there is anything I can do to help anyone I am here.