Friday 30 September 2022 04:20 PM Suicide rates rose in 2021 during second year of pandemic reversing years of ... trends now
An American took their own life every 10 minutes last year data reveals, reversing a two-year decline in the country's suicide rate.
Statistics showed 47,644 Americans died by suicide in 2021, up four per cent from the previous 12-months and the second-highest tally over the last decade.
The most likely group to take their own lives were men over 75 years old, while young men aged 18 to 24 saw the sharpest rise by eight per cent in a year.
Experts today described the uptick as 'disappointing', but nothing like the 'major escalation' predicted when the Covid pandemic hit. They blamed a combination of higher gun ownership rates and job losses due to Covid among other factors.
Suicide is the 12th leading cause of death in the United States, according to the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention. The White House is currently beefing up mental health services for the country with $1 billion over five years.
The data is provisional, but the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said it likely already included nearly all suicides from last year.
The above graph shows the suicide rate per 100,000 people by age group for men and women over the year 2020 (green) and 2021 (blue). It reveals an uptick in rates among men aged from 15 to 24 years, while for females it remains level
There are no figures for suicides by state last year. But the above map shows the rates for 2020, revealing that Wyoming and Montana had the highest suicide rates
The data was published today in a report from the National Center for Health Statistics.
It was compiled after statisticians combed through death certificates from 2021 for all those that mentioned suicide.
The analysis looked at certificates submitted up to May this year, suggesting it likely included virutally all fatalities as these take about six months to be logged. But the CDC said some from drug poisonings may be missing as these take longer to report.
