According to alarming data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), a record-high of 49,500 people in the U.S. died from suicide in 2022. The CDC posted the numbers, but it has not yet calculated a suicide rate for the year. However, available data suggests that suicides are more common in America these days than at any time since the start of World War II.
Christina Wilbur, a 45-year-old woman from Florida, thinks that something is wrong and that recorded suicide cases "should not be going up."
Her 21-year-old son Cale shot himself on June 16, 2022. Cale previously lost two friends and an uncle to suicide. The young man had also been struggling with depression.
Wilbur lamented that her son shouldn't have died, but she also acknowledged that suicide itself is a complicated matter.
She added that even though suicide is often a delicate subject, that doesn't mean nothing can be done about it, especially since whatever is being done right now "is not helping."
On the day he passed, Cale and Christina had an argument. She had confronted him about his drug use, said Christina. She left his bedroom and when she came back Cale had a gun.
Christina begged Cale not to do anything and to calm down. While it seemed like he relaxed, it was only temporary. He killed himself later that day. Christina said her life has been sadder and emptier after her son died, and it was also difficult to talk to friends or family about him.
Wilbur said it can be hard to find professionals who can help, and those that are near her are often expensive.
She joined support groups like the Alliance of Hope for Suicide Loss Survivors. The group operates a 24/7 online forum.
"There's nothing like being with people who get it," concluded Wilbur. (Related: Surgeon General: LONELINESS has risks "comparable to smoking.")
Depression, the pandemic and suicide
Suicides in the U.S. steadily increased from the early 2000s until 2018, when the national rate hit its highest level since 1941. That year reported an estimated 48,300 suicide deaths or 14.2 for every 100,000 Americans.
The rate decreased slightly in 2019 and it thankfully went down again in 2020, during the first year of the Wuhan coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic.
Some researchers linked that to a phenomenon often observed in the early stages of wars or natural disasters, when people can still cooperate and support each other.
Yet in 2021, suicides increased by four percent. In 2022, new data revealed that the number increased by more than 1,000, to 49,449, indicating a three percent increase compared to the year before.
The provisional data comes from U.S. death certificates and is considered almost complete, but it may change somewhat as death information is reviewed in the upcoming months.
The largest increases were observed in older adults. Researchers reported that deaths have gone up almost seven percent in people ages 45 to 64, and more than eight percent in those 65 and older.
The CDC reported that White men have very high suicide rates. Dr. Debra Houry, the CDC’s chief medical officer, thinks that this is due to many middle-aged and elderly people going through issues such as losing a spouse.
Houry added that it is crucial to reduce mental health stigma and other obstacles to adults getting assistance.
Suicides in adults ages 25 to 44 went up by one percent. The new data indicates that suicide became the second leading cause of death in that age group last year, which has gone up from number four in 2021.
Visit Psychiatry.news for more articles about suicides.
Watch the video below to learn about Kevin Hines, a suicide survivor, and his message of hope.
This video is from the NewsClips channel on Brighteon.com.
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