The tragic and devastating thing about suicide, whether Teen Suicide, Adult Suicide, or patient-assisted suicide is that once someone is dead there is no coming back to life and there is nothing survivors can do to change what has happened. We need to increase awareness about suicide so that we can take proactive measures to prevent the loss of our loved ones and friends.

How Serious is the Problem of Suicide?

Suicide is a very serious public health problem. Society should not deceive itself that suicide is rare. It is happening more often. Suicide was the 9th leading cause of death in the United States in 1996. Approximately 500,000 suicide attempts were made that year and an estimated 31,000 individuals died as a result. Suicide was the third leading cause of death among young people 15 to 24 years of age, behind accidents and homicides.

Men are four times more likely to commit suicide than women are. The highest suicide rate is for White men age 85 and over.

A woman commits suicide every 90 minutes in the U.S., but it is estimated that one woman attempts suicide every 78 seconds.

Women attempt suicide about twice as often as men, but men complete the act more often.

In the United States, more teenagers and young adults die from suicide than from aids, pneumonia, heart disease, cancer, birth defects, influenza, and stroke combined.

Groups with high suicide rates include physicians whose suicide rates are three times as high as the general population. Other groups with high suicide rates are dentists, lawyers, and police officers.

States with the highest suicide rates: Nevada (24.5 per 100,000), Alaska (21) and Montana (20.8). New Jersey had the lowest suicide rate (7.3).

Suicide is a growing problem for Black people today

For years the suicide rate for Black people was half or less than half of the rate for White people. Suicide rates among Black teenagers have historically been much lower than the rate among White teenagers, but this is changing. In 1980, the suicide rates for White children ages 10 to 19 was 157 percent greater than for Black children of the same age bracket. By 1995, however, that gap had significantly decreased and the suicide rate for Whites was only 42 percent higher than that of Blacks. The largest increase in suicide rates for Black teens was in the South - a 214 percent increase, according to a Center for Disease Control and Prevention Report.

Clearly, suicide which has long been a "No, No" and taboo in Black communities, is now a present and growing problem, especially among young black males twenty to twenty-four years old.

Stressful living conditions because of poverty, discrimination, racism, abuse, and rejection from the American society, plus dysfunctional family life all compound the Black suicide predicament. It is noteworthy that the Black youth suicide rate isn?t even higher than it presently is in view of the many obstacles that our young people face. Surprisingly, the rise of Blacks to the middle class has created new stressors that make some more prone to suicidal behavior.

Limited mental-health services in the Black community, a cultural tendency to not seek assistance for mental-health problems and an aversion to discuss ?suicide? all contribute to the growing problem of suicide in our community.

Suicide Risk Factors

Most research suggests that suicidal behavior is complex. The risk factors for suicide vary with age and may change over time. Suicide is very often the culmination of an individual?s battle with depression, substance abuse and the stress of livings in today?s society. Research suggests that upwards of 90% of people who kill themselves have depression (or other mental illness) and/or substance abuse in their history. Depression is a major cause of suicide.

Stressful events in life contribute to suicidal behavior and include: ~ The death of a parent or close family member. ~ Broken relationships, separation, or divorce. ~ A change in financial state of affairs. ~ Family violence including physical or sexual abuse. ~ Significant medical illness. ~ Incarceration. ~ Exposure to suicidal behavior of others, including family members and stories in the media.

Other risk factors for suicide include: ~ Presence of firearms in the home. ~ Alcohol abuse, cocaine abuse and other drug use. ~ Family history of suicide; mental or substance abuse disorders;

Does suicide run in families? No scientific evidence certifies that a ?suicide gene? can be inherited. It does seem that children of suicide victims have a higher suicide rate than other young people.

Prevention Identify the person at risk. Listen, show sympathy, and take the suicide problem seriously. Ask in a direct manner: ?are you thinking of committing suicide?? If the answer is yes, ask if the person has planned how and when they will commit suicide. If the person has a plan, this indicates danger and the need for professional help at once. Most suicidal people carefully plan their deaths, sometimes weeks or months in advance.

Ask the person?s name, their address, marital status, and other needful information.

Ask the person about details of their suicide plan: who is involved? what means or method they plan to use? What has brought them to this decision to commit suicide?

Assist the person in getting professional help. Try to accompany the person to a counselor or doctor.

Since 70 percent of elderly suicide victims have visited their primary care physician in the month before their suicides, recognition and treatment of depression in the medical setting is very helpful toward preventing elderly suicide.

School and community prevention programs designed to address suicide and suicidal behavior as part of a wider focus on mental health and coping skills relative to stress, substance abuse and antisocial behaviors are also likely to be successful in dealing with the problem of suicide.

Empowerment Points

Be aware that African American suicide rates are definitely increasing.

African American communities should discuss the problem of suicide openly and make sure that people know that help is available.

We need to seek and utilize mental-health services.

If you know someone who is thinking of committing suicide, use the prevention information and strategy presented in this article and from other reliable sources to assist him or her in getting help.

Physicians and health care providers should be more alert and active in recognition and treatment of depression and other suicide risk factors.

References:

Warren Colman, Teen Suicide, Chicago, IL: Childrens Press, 1990

George Howe Colt, The Enigma of Suicide, New York, NY: Summit Books, 1991

National Center for Policy Analysis, Rene Sanchez, ?Black Teen Suicide rate Increases Dramatically,? Washington Post, March 20, 1998

Jessica Portner, Increased Suicide Rates For Blacks Puts Prevention In Doubt,

Education Week on the Web, April 1, 1998.

National Institute of Mental Health ? In Harm?s Way: Suicide in America, Bethesda, MD: September 13, 1999 www.nimh.nih.gov

San Jose Mercury News, Section E, Thursday, October 28, 1999,

pp.1E, 3E, Article: Suicide ? Devastating, Relentless, All Too Common

Suicide, Opposing Viewpoints Series, San Diego, CA: Greenhaven Press, Inc., 1998

David Pryor, MD - San Jose, CA

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