KUALA LUMPUR, June 21 — Suicide rates in the United States have reached their highest since World War II, where 14 out of every 100,000 Americans killed themselves in 2017.
Time reported new analysis by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s National Center for Health Statistics that showed the 2017 rate was the highest age-adjusted suicide rate recorded in the US since 1942, which also saw a suicide rate at 14 out of every 100,000 Americans.
The 2017 statistic marked a 33 per cent increase since 1999 two decades ago, when the suicide rate was 10.5 per 100,000 people. Suicide rates in the US have been steadily climbing since 2000 that saw a low of 10.4 per 100,000 people.
“I don’t think there’s something you can pinpoint, but I do think a period of increased stress and a lack of a sense of security may be contributing,” Jill Harkavy-Friedman, vice president of research at the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention, was quoted saying.
The new data reportedly showed that suicide rates were increasing more quickly among girls and boys aged 10 to 14 than in other age groups.
Female suicide rates have also risen faster than male suicide rates by 53 per cent since 1999, compared to 26 per cent for men. Men’s suicide rates were still over three times higher than women’s as of 2017.
American Indians and Alaska natives saw the highest suicide rates among both genders, while the most suicide deaths were reported among those aged 45 to 64. But Time noted that almost all racial and age groups saw some form of increase from 1999 to 2017.
