suicide

note on 988

-option 3 for LGBTQ individuals

-on July 17, 2025, funding for option 3 stopped

factors of suicide

-urgent and multifaceted

-can be violent or nonviolent

-impulsive

-risk increases over lifetime

suicide risk after natural disasters

-suicide rate declines after natural disasters

-believed to be due to community bonding and involvement

-mortality salience discourages suicide

suicide risk after economic cycles

-poor economy increases suicide

-middle class white males more likely to die by suicide

suicide peak rates

-peaked in 2022
-decreased from 2018-2020

-covid was a time of social support, so the suicide rate decreased

issues with estimating suicide

suicide rates are often underestimated

male vs female suicide rates

suicide rate among males in 2023 was 4x higher than women

suicide by age

-85+ are the highest

-10-14 are the lowest

peak age for suicide in males

75+

peak age for suicide in females

45-54

suicide by race

-American Indian/Alaska native is highest

Asians the lowest

most common means of suicide

-firearm (55%)

-suffocation (25%)

-poisoning (12%)

other

hidden populations and suicide

-black female youth

black men

-American Indian

-Japanese and Koreans

-IPV abusers and victims

US suicide rate for the general population

14.12%

5 industries with the highest suicide risk

1. mining, quarrying, oil and gas extraction

2. construction

3. agriculture, forestry, fishing, hunting

4. transportation

5. repairs

6 occupations with the highest suicide risk

1. construction and extraction jobs

2. installation, maintenance, repair

3. arts, design, entertainment, sports, media

4. transportation and material moving

5. protective services

6. healthcare support

occupational subgroups

-2-4x greater deaths for veterinarians (especially females)

-1.6% increase in male veterans, decreased 24.1 for female veterans

states with the highest suicide rates

1. Alaska

2. Montana

3. Wyoming

4. Idaho

5. Utah

states with the lowest suicide rates

1. DC

2. New Jersey

3. New York

4. Massachusetts

5. Rhode Island

6. California

months with the highest suicide rates

increases from May-September

psychological types of suicide

-escape

-cry for help

-sub-intentional and chronic suicide

-Karoshi

-chronic

escape suicide:

intense mental or physical pain, destructive logic, loss of meaning in life

cry for help:

goal to solve a problem but not die, lethality of method is low but may escalate

sub-intentional and chronic suicide:

hastening one's own demise (accidents, homicides), death by cops, provoking others

Karoshi suicide:

-overwork deaths in Japanese is occupational sudden mortality

-the major medical causes of karoshi deaths are heart attack and stroke

chronic suicide:

use of drugs, reckless living, death wishes

Durkheim's perspective on suicide

-functionalism perspective: suicide is a stable fact of all societies

-suicide is an individual act, but the rate of suicide is the product of a social structure

two sociological perspectives on suicide

-degree of social regulation

-degree of social integration

degree of social regulation:

-how a society runs itself

-anomie (lawlessness): insufficient social regulation

-e.g., collapse of society

fatalistic: repressive regulation, there is limited autonomy

-e.g., oppressive regimes, prisons and jails

degree of social integration:

-how connected you feel to society

-egoistic: feeling alienated from society/traditions

-e.g., ethnic groups, older populations

-altruistic: personal identity is submerged in the need to identify with the values or culture of society

-e.g., religious cults and mass suicides

pulling together phenomenon:

when suicide deaths decrease yet attempts increase

components of lethal suicide attempts

-thwarted belongingness

-perceived burdensomeness

-capability for suicide

-desire for suicide

macro sociological improvements that reduce suicide

-$1 increase in minimum wage educes suicide by 3.5% in HS graduates

-higher minimum wage and earned income tax credits reduced non-drug suicides

-fewer attempts by gay youth since marriage equality

country with the highest suicide rate

greenland has the highest rate (75.57 per 100k)

prevention strategies

means reduction reduces suicide rates

living funerals in South Korea

-people enter a simulated funeral experience

-helps showcase that the person is not alone and allows them to reflect about death

cluster suicides

-three or more suicides in proximity over a short period of time

-more likely in the 15-24 range

-5 clusters in the US per year

-occurs in less than 5% of suicides

the Werther effect

the media should not focus on the act itself/method used, the location of the death, and should not glorify the act

the thirteen reasons why effect

-suicide rate for teens (10-17) increased by 28% after the first season aired

-suicide rates increase after celebrities commit suicide