Suicide is still a leading cause of death in the United States; in 2022, 49,449 people died by suicide. After increasing for two decades, the rate of suicide has been fluctuating less and seems to be leveling at this high rate. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s recent publication of provisional data on suicide deaths demands that we pay attention and take action. As an urgent national public health problem, suicide can only be addressed with meaningful action at the individual, community and national levels. Bringing down the suicide rate requires a lot of work, but I am optimistic because suicide can be prevented.
I am optimistic because suicide can be prevented.
Suicide is complex and has no single cause. It is the combination of risk factors in the face of stress that can precipitate suicidal behavior. These risk factors include one’s mental and physical health, chronic pain, history of family mental illness and suicide, among others. When a person with several risk factors experiences stressors and has access to lethal means, the risk of death by suicide can increase. The key to surviving that period of stress is giving that person the tools and resources to get through that crisis.
When I started out almost 40 years ago, we were just beginning to understand suicide risk. I’m hopeful because we now have several proven prevention strategies — I use these in my therapy practice with my patients — and more will emerge with research. To save lives, these strategies need to be customized and scaled to a national level more quickly. We must invest in a national suicide prevention strategy that includes research, education and intervention programs, and we need to push our leaders to improve access to those resources.
All we know about suicide and suicide prevention comes from research. There is still so much to uncover, and research is key to developing meaningful education and intervention strategies that decrease suicide rates. It’s…
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