Furious Seasons

September 16, 2009

Suicide Rate Unchanged In 2006

The National Center for Health Statistics recently released final mortality data for 2006 and the report shows that the age-adjusted suicide rate in America was 10.9 people per 100,000 people, the same as in 2005 and the same as in 2004. Interestingly, none of this has been reported by the media (suggested storyline: "Three years. No Change. What happened?")

The total number of people who committed suicide in 2006 was 33,300, about 50 percent by using a firearm. (2005 was originally reported at 11.0 per 100,000 but was revised to 10.9.)

There was a teensy improvement in the teen suicide rate (see page 30 of the report). There were increases of 4.2 percent and 4.3 percent, respectively, among people aged 45 to 54 and 55 to 64. The suicide rate remains quite high among older adults, but even there there was some improvement in older age groups.

Men, as usual, had four times the rate of suicide as did women (18 per 100,000 versus 4.5 per 100,000) with white males being the big driver of the rate amongst men (see page 76).

Wyoming was the worst state (21.9 people per 100,000) followed by Alaska (20), Montana (19.7), Nevada (19.5) and New Mexico (18). Washington, D.C. was the lowest (5.1 per 100,000) followed by New Jersey (6.5). (See page 104.)

While it's hard to know what to take away from this data (things didn't get better or worse overall), I'm sure researchers will dissect all of the data and spin out a pharma-worthy paper on the benefits on anti-depressants. I bet you no one makes the point I did last year:

"One other point worth making is that in 1999, the feds announced a national goal of reducing the rate of suicide by 50 percent by 2010. The rate of suicide in 1999 was 10.5 per 100,000 people, so the rate has actually increased by about 5 percent during that time."

With four years of data left in this decade, it's pretty clear that the feds' 2010 public health goal will not come anywhere close to being met.

Posted by Philip Dawdy at September 16, 2009 12:03 AM

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Comments

"With four years of data left in this decade, it's pretty clear that the feds' 2010 public health goal will not come anywhere close to being met."

Especially taking into account the outrageously high suicide rate for returning soldiers & veterans.

Posted by: SallyT at September 16, 2009 12:42 AM

Who defines the meaning of depression?
Those that define it (as a medical illness, a brain chemical imbalance) control its treatment.
"There is profit to be made from these consumers." says psychopathic Pharma Co.

Depression-pain is real, people might be helped from drugs, might be harmed as well physically and cognitively (when drugged people make different choices, choices are more likely to be irrational, impulsive under the influence of a drug). It is gambling to issue a drug.

A doctor should be able to perceive the lifelong exploitation (drugs for life), and actively stop the crime of pretending a drug is a medicine.

Posted by: mark p.s.2 at September 16, 2009 05:02 AM

But I thought declining SSRI use among kids was going to lead to a massive increase in suicides -- that's what I read in several papers which bemoaned the decrease in antidepressant prescriptions among youth. Oh, wait, you mean those papers were wrong...

Posted by: CL Psych at September 16, 2009 05:09 AM

Well, the package inserts make it clear that SSRI's can increase suicidality, so with the rise in pill use, no surprise there. Or at least, it ain't helping.

Posted by: Miranda at September 16, 2009 07:31 AM

Oh and you can bet that if the data illustrated the opposite trend, we'd never hear the end of it.

Posted by: kimbriel at September 16, 2009 12:48 PM

Kimbriel: "Oh and you can bet that if the data illustrated the opposite trend, we'd never hear the end of it" -- exactly. Researchers are still claiming, in professional journals, that the antidepressant black box warning on suicidality has led to a huge upsurge in suicides. And these claims of more suicides being caused by lowered antidepressant prescriptions had to make their way through peer review and an editor. Says a lot about the peer review process, actually.

Posted by: CL Psych at September 17, 2009 07:17 AM

Is it (suicide) still illegal in the USA?
We in Canada do not use the term "Committed Suicide" because "No crime was committed"
We simply use the term "Died by suicide".
I think this term helps families by reducing the "Shame" of it all.

Posted by: Sheena Marini at October 25, 2009 02:56 PM

Sheena,
Thank you so much for pointing this out. I'll start changing my language immediately. I can't believe I've never noticed this distinction before. I feel pretty stupid.

Posted by: Sherry at October 25, 2009 05:24 PM