Suicide remains prevalent and broadly misunderstood.

  • Over 40,000 deaths per year in the U.S.
  • 2nd leading cause of death among those 15-24 years old in the U.S.
  • 12 U.S. teens per day die by suicide/575,000 attempts by U.S. teens per year.
  • 4th leading cause of death in U.S. among adults ages 18-65.
  • Suicide exceeds motor vehicle deaths and homicides.
  • Over the past decade the suicide rate has risen from 10.4 to 12.1 deaths per 100,000 people.
  • Every day, about 105 people in the U.S. die by suicide.
  • The only top ten cause of death rising in prevalence.
  • Mental health disorders are associated with > 90% of all suicides.

Mental Health in the United States

  • National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI, 2015) and The National Comorbidity Survey Replication (NCS-R, 2014) reports, 1 in 4 adults suffer from any mental illness (AMI), with 22.3% suffering from a severe and persistent mental illness (SMI).
  • Prevalence of SMI is on the rise across the United States, current data reflects:
    • 1% (2.4 million) American adults live with Schizophrenia
    • 6% (6.1 million) American adults live with Bipolar Disorder
    • 9% (16 million) of American adults live with major depression*
    • 18.1% (42 million) of American adults live with anxiety disorders
  • The United States spends approximately $193.2 billion in mental health costs per year, yet 60% of adults with a mental illness did not receive mental health services in the previous year.
  • Not seeking appropriate mental health services, often results in “self-medicating.” Given this, approximately 8.4 million adults have co-occurring mental health and addiction disorders.
  • Suicide is the 10th leading cause of death in the United States, with 90% of those who die by suicide have an underlying mental illness.

*Depression is the leading cause of disability worldwide.

AMI Graph

 

SPMI Graph

 

 

References

  1. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Center for Injury Prevention and Control. Web-based Injury Statistics Query and Reporting System (WISQARS) : www.cdc.gov/ncipc/wisqars
  1. Moscicki EK. Epidemiology of completed and attempted suicide: toward a framework for prevention. Clinical Neuroscience Research, 2001; 1: 310-23. Options ● See all NIMH publications about: Statistics , Suicide Prevention , Prevention ● Browse Mental Health Topics ● About NIMH Publications NIMH · Suicide in the U.S.: Statistics and Prevention Skip Navigation Links http://www.nimh.nih.gov/health/publications/suicide-in-the-us-statistics-and-prevention/index.shtml (1 of 2) [12/1/2009 9:43:19 AM] Topic Finder Print this page RSS Feed (What’s RSS?) Search NIMH: visited 12/1/2009
  1. Petronis KR, Samuels JF, Moscicki EK, Anthony JC. An epidemiologic investigation of potential risk factors for suicide attempts. Social Psychiatry and Psychiatric Epidemiology, 1990; 25(4): 193-9.
  1. U.S. Public Health Service. National strategy for suicide prevention: goals and objectives for action. Rockville, MD: USDHHS, 2001.
  1. Gould MS, Greenberg T, Velting DM, Shaffer D. Youth suicide risk and preventive interventions: a review of the past 10 years. Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, 2003; 42(4): 386-405.