Suicide Awareness Month
September 2022
Break the Stigma
Statistics
Individual Impact:
- 79% of all people who die by suicide are male.
- Although more women than men attempt suicide, men are nearly 4x more likely to die by suicide.
- Suicide is the second leading cause of death among people aged 10–34 and the 12th leading cause of death overall in the U.S.
- The overall suicide rate in the U.S. has increased by 35% since 1999.
- 46% of people who die by suicide had a diagnosed mental health condition.
- While nearly half of individuals who die by suicide have a diagnosed mental health condition, research shows that 90% may have experienced symptoms of a mental health condition.
Community Impact:
- Annual prevalence of serious thoughts of suicide, by U.S. demographic group:
- 4.9% of all adults
- 11.3% of young adults aged 18-25
- 18.8% of high school students
- 45% of lesbian, gay and bisexual high school students
- Lesbian, gay and bisexual youth are 4x more likely to attempt suicide than straight youth.
- Transgender adults are nearly 9x more likely to attempt suicide than the general population.
- Suicide is the leading cause of death for people held in local jails.
Risk Factors
Understanding what is likely to put a person more at risk for suicide can be helpful is offering some advanced warning. Of course, these are not the only things that might offer an alert that someone needs help, but they are a beginning:
Previous suicide attempts
Use of or abuse of drugs, alcohol, or other addictive substance (illegal or prescribed)
Depression, anxiety, mood swings and other mood or mental disorders
Close relationship with someone who died by suicide (particularly a family member)
Coping with loss
- Acknowledge your pain.
- Accept that grief can trigger many different and unexpected emotions.
- Understand that your grieving process will be unique to you.
- Seek out face-to-face support from people who care about you.
- Support yourself emotionally by taking care of yourself physically.
- Recognize the difference between grief and depression.
National Institute of Mental Health: Free Digital Resources on Suicide Prevention:
988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline
Call or text 988. The Lifeline provides 24-hour, confidential support to anyone in suicidal crisis or emotional distress. Call or text 988 to connect with a trained crisis counselor. Support is also available in English via live chat.
Disaster Distress Helpline
Call or text 1-800-985-5990. Provides immediate crisis counseling for those who are experiencing emotional distress related to any natural or human-caused disaster. It is free, multilingual, confidential, & available 24/7.
Recipes
Click here to view our 2022 library of recipes!
"It is when we are most lost that we sometimes find our truest friends." —Brothers Grimm
Email: ginther@smolaconsulting.com
Website: www.smolaconsulting.com
Location: 260 East Main Street, Rochester, NY, USA
Phone: 5857774080