Suicide Overtakes Car Accidents as Leading Cause of Injury-Related
Death
October 11 2012
By Dr. Mercola
A recent report on causes of death shows that suicide has now
overtaken traffic accidents as the leading cause of injury-related
death in the US. One reason for that is because car accident
occurrences are down. But even so, the rate of suicide rose by an
unhealthy 15 percent between 2000 and 2009, and poisoning (the
number one cause of which is prescription drugs) rose by a whopping
128 percent.
Fatal
prescription drug overdoses surpassed car crashes as the leading
cause of accidental death in 2007, according to the Department of
Health. Many of the overdoses (36 percent) involve
prescription opioid painkillers, which were actually the cause
of more overdose deaths than heroin and cocaine combined.
Some authorities believe many of these drug poisonings may
actually be intentional suicides, even though they may have been
classified as accidental. According to the study's author:
"Suicides are terribly undercounted; I think the problem
is much worse than official data would lead us to believe. There
may be 20 percent or more unrecognized suicides."
If his estimation is correct, we may be looking at upwards of a
35 percent rise in suicide between the years of 2000-2009... It's
estimated that a person commits suicide every 15 minutes in the
United States.
For each of these suicide deaths, an estimated 8-25 people made
suicide attempts.1
Taken together, the latest preliminary 2010 data from the U.S.
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) lists intentional
self-harm, or suicide, as the 10th leading cause of all death in the
United States.
Whatever means they use to commit suicide, the rapid increase of
people reaching that level of desperation leave us wondering:
Why?
Is a Crumbling Economy to Blame?
There's clearly evidence suggesting that economic recessions and
financial hardships can be a significant contributing factor.2
According to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC),
suicide rates tend to rise and fall along with recessions and
economic booms. For example, during the 1932 Great Depression, as
many as 22 people per 100,000 committed suicide. The current
economic collapse has also led to a well-documented rash of suicides
across Europe.
According to the New York Times:3
"Especially in the most fragile nations like Greece,
Ireland and Italy, small-business owners and entrepreneurs are
increasingly taking their own lives in a phenomenon some
European newspapers have started calling 'suicide by economic
crisis.'
...In Greece, the suicide rate among men increased more
than 24 percent from 2007 to 2009, government statistics show.
In Ireland during the same period, suicides among men rose more
than 16 percent. In Italy, suicides motivated by economic
difficulties have increased 52 percent, to 187 in 2010 – the
most recent year for which statistics were available – from 123
in 2005.
...In Ireland, the phenomenon has been linked to what
some therapists call Celtic Tiger depression, the period after
2008 characterized by an influx of middle-aged male patients who
complained about sleeplessness and a lack of appetite in the
aftermath of that nation's destructive boom-and-bust real estate
market."
Other Contributing Factors to Rising Suicide Rates
As one person is quoted as saying in the New York Times,
people don't kill themselves because they have debts, rather it's a
combination of factors that lead to desperation. If you have a
family history of suicide, have been exposed to suicidal behavior
(such as from other family members or friends) or have
suffered/witnessed physical or sexual abuse or domestic violence,
your risk of suicidal behavior increases.
However, the primary risk factor for suicide is
depression in combination with substance abuse, and this could
include alcohol, illicit drugs, and prescription drugs. It's
estimated that more than 90 percent of those who end up taking their
own lives fit into this category.4
Another important factor that cannot be overlooked is poor
health, which can stretch already strained finances, family and
living conditions to the very limit. And then there's the factor of
taking too many different drugs simultaneously. While this certainly
increases your risk of accidental overdose,
polypharmacy in and of itself can have a devastating effect on
both physical and mental health, including increased risk of
depression, physical accidents like falls, and/or self-harm, along
with symptoms that may otherwise exacerbate depression.
More:
http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2012/10/11/suicide-and-poisoning-rate-increased.aspx?e_cid=20121011_DNL_art_1
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