Statistics
- Major depression is the psychiatric diagnosis most commonly associated with suicide.
- About 2/3 of people who complete suicide are depressed at the time of their deaths.
- One out of every sixteen people who are diagnosed with depression eventually go on to end their lives through suicide.
- About 7 out of every hundred men and 1 out of every hundred women who have been diagnosed with depression in their lifetime will go on to complete suicide.
- The risk of suicide in people with major depression is about 20 times that of the general population.
- People who have had multiple episodes of depression are at greater risk for suicide than those who have had one episode.
- People who have a dependence on alcohol or drugs in addition to being depressed are at greater risk for suicide.
- People who are depressed and exhibit the following symptoms are at particular risk for suicide:
1. Extreme hopelessness
2. A lack of interest in activities that were previously pleasurable
3. Heightened anxiety and/or panic attacks.
4. Global insomnia
5. Talk about suicide or a prior history of attempts/acts.
6. Irritability and agitation
- Suicide is the ninth leading cause of death (2000 data) in the U.S., claiming 29,350 lives per year.
- Suicide rates among youth (ages 15-24) have increased more than 200% in the last fifty years.
- The suicide rate is highest for the elderly (ages 85+) than for any other age group.
- Suicide is preventable. Most suicidal people desperately want to live; they are just unable to see alternatives to their problems.
- Most suicidal people give definite warning signals of their suicidal intentions; but others are often unaware of the significance of these warnings or unsure what to do about them.
- Talking about suicide does not cause someone to become suicidal.
- Four times more men than women kill themselves; but three times more women than men attempt suicide.
- Firearms are the most common method of suicide among all groups.
- Suicide cuts across ethnic, economic, social and age boundaries.
- Surviving family members not only suffer the loss of a loved one to suicide, but are also themselves at higher risk of suicide and emotional problems.
