General Statistics

Important Facts

Over 30,000 people in the United States commit suicide every year.
A person dies by suicide about every 18 minutes in the United States. An attempt is estimated to be made once every minute.
Ninety percent of all people who die by suicide have a diagnosable and treatatle mental disorder.
There are four more male suicides for every female suicide, but twice as many females attempt suicide.

Facts about Youth

Suicide is the 5th leading cause of death for 5-14 year olds.
The fastest growing age group for suicide is 10-14 year olds.
Suicide is the third leading cause of death for 15-24 year olds.
The suicide rate for white males between the ages of 15-24 has tripled since 1950 and for females it has doubled.
Between 1980-1996, the suicide rate for African-American males from ages 15-19 doubled.

Facts about the Elderly

Suicide rates for men go up with age, most significantly over 65.
White men over 50 make up less than 1/4 of the population but represent almost 40 percent of all suicides.
Suicide rates for women peak between 45-64 years old, and then again at 75 years old.

Depression, Alcohol, and Medical Illness

Over 60 percent of people who commit suicide suffer from depression.
Thirty percent of all clinically depressed patients attempt suicide; more than half are successful.
Alcoholism is a factor in about 30 percent of all completed suicides.
Approximately 7 percent of people with alcohol dependence will die by suicide.
People with AIDS have a suicide risk up to 20 times more likely than the average person.

United States Suicide: 2003 Official Data

                                   Number        Per Day    Rate      % of Deaths

Nation .......................... 31,484 ......... 86.3 ...... 10.8 .......... 1.3
Males ........................... 25,203 ......... 69.0 ...... 17.6 .......... 2.1
Females .......................... 6,281 ......... 17.2 ...... 4.3 ............ 0.5
Whites .......................... 28,485 ......... 78.0 ...... 12.1........... 1.4
Non-Whites ................... 2,999 ............ 8.2 ........ 5.5 .......... 0.9
Blacks ........................... 1,955 ............. 5.4 ........ 5.1 .......... 0.7
Elderly (65+) ................. 5,248 .......... 14.4 ....... 14.6 .......... 0.3
Young (18-24) .............. 3,988 .......... 10.9 ......... 9.7 ........ 11.9

Completions

On average 1 person commits suicide every 18 minutes.

On average one old person (over the age of 65)commits suicide every 1 hour 40.2 minutes.

On average one young person (15-24)commits suicide every 2 hours 11.8 minutes

11th ranking cause of death in the United States

Cause             Number          Rate
All Causes      33,568            81.5
Accidents       15,272            37.1
Homicide        5,368             13.0
Suicide           3,988              9.7


Attempts

787,000 annual attempts in the United States

25 attempts for every death by suicide for nation. 100-200: 1 for young: 4:1 for eldery.

Cause             Number          Rate
10-14 yrs        244                1.2
15-19 yrs       1487               7.3
20-24 yrs       2501              12.1



Methods

Suicide Methods                Number        Rate       % of Total
Firearms suicides                16,907        5.8            53.7
Suffocation/Hanging            6,635          2.3            21.1
Cut/pierce                            571           0.2            1.8

                                Number        Rate    % of Total
All but firearms        14,577          5.0         46.3
Poisoning                 5,462           1.9         17.3
Drowning                339               0.1          1.2

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