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Tag: suicide deaths

  • Deaths From Alcohol, Suicide & Overdose Reach Record High

    Deaths From Alcohol, Suicide & Overdose Reach Record High

    Suicide, drug overdose and alcohol now kill more than 150,000 Americans annually. 

    Deaths from suicide, drug overdose and alcohol have reached an all-time high in the United States. 

    Data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) analyzed by two non-profit organizations revealed that deaths attributed to those causes rose 6% in 2017, USA Today reported.

    Those factors are now responsible for 46.6 deaths per 100,000—killing more than 150,000 people each year, according to U.S. News and World Report.

    In 2017, deaths from suicide rose 4%, double the pace of increase over the past decade. Deaths caused by synthetic opioids also skyrocketed, up 45%. However, five states saw decreases in deaths from suicide, overdose and alcohol. Those were Massachusetts, Oklahoma, Rhode Island, Utah and Wyoming.

    Loribeth Bowman Stein, of Milford, Connecticut, believes that social isolation is contributing to these co-called diseases of despair.

    She said, “We don’t really see each other anymore. We don’t share our hopes and joys in the same way, and we aren’t as available to one another, physically and emotionally, as we need to be. The world got smaller, but lonelier.”

    Kimberly McDonald, a licensed clinical social worker in Wisconsin lost her father to suicide, and says that she sees patients struggling with suicidal ideation and addiction every day. Often, they don’t get the support that they need to heal. 

    “We are a society that criticizes and lacks compassion, integrity, and empathy. I work daily with individuals who each have their own demons,” she said. 

    However, Benjamin Miller, a psychologist and chief strategy officer at the Well Being Trust, said that people need to avoid the temptation to explain away these alarming statistics. 

    He said, “It’s almost a joke how simple we’re trying to make these issues. We’re not changing direction, and it’s getting worse.”

    The Well Being Trust calls for policy changes, such as restricting access to firearms and medications that can be deadly for someone looking to end their life. In addition, the trust calls for more funding for programs that support resiliency in kids, address childhood trauma, and provide treatment for addiction.

    All of these efforts, Miller said, can help save lives. Progress has been made in these areas, but there is need for more work, Miller said. 

    “It is important to see hope in the slowing of rates—but it’s not nearly enough. We should not be satisfied at all. Too many of us are dying from preventable causes.”

    Overall, the suicide rate has increased 33% since 1999. Rural states including West Virginia, New Mexico, Ohio, Alaska and New Hampshire have the highest suicide rates. 

    View the original article at thefix.com

  • Link Between Suicide And Opioid Use Examined

    Link Between Suicide And Opioid Use Examined

    Researchers hope that the results of a new study will help them better identify those at risk for suicide. 

    A three-year, $1.4 million study will examine the connection between opioid use and death by suicide, in hopes of more effectively identifying high-risk patients.

    “We know that opioid use, opioid overdose and suicide are related, but we need much more specific information to guide our efforts at prevention,” Gregory Simon, MD, principal investigator of the Mental Health Research Network and a co-investigator on the study, told Health IT Analytics. “The findings from this study will be a great asset to the public health community.”

    The goal of the research is to develop predictive models that can help doctors better identify and intervene with patients who are at higher risk of attempting suicide.

    Researchers will analyze data covering about 24 million medical visits, 35,000 suicide attempts, and 2,600 suicide deaths. They will try to predict how likely it is that a suicide will occur within 90 days of the time an individual visits a medical professional. 

    Opioid overdose deaths have increased exponentially in the past decade, while deaths by suicide increased 27% between 1999 and 2015. During that time suicides that involved opioids doubled, and may have increased even more. 

    “We’ve done preliminary work suggesting that 22 to 37% of opioid-related overdoses are, in fact, suicides or suicide attempts,” said Bobbi Jo Yarborough, PsyD, an investigator at the Kaiser Permanente Center for Health Research in Portland, Oregon.

    Despite the rising risks, doctors and mental health providers often have difficultly identifying which patients are at risk for suicide. 

    “While health care settings are ideal places to intervene to prevent suicides, clinicians aren’t able to easily determine which of their patients are at elevated risk,” Yarborough said. “Our ultimate goal is to develop the most accurate suicide risk prediction tools and put them into the hands of clinicians. If our study is successful, clinicians will have a powerful new resource in the fight against suicide.”

    Researchers will look at risk factors including illegal or prescribed opioid use, opioid use disorder, discontinuation or substantial dose reduction of prescription opioids, and prior non-fatal opioid-related overdoses. They will also examine how these factors affect men and women differently in order to understand whether one group is more likely to attempt suicide while using opioids. 

    Healthcare providers say that while suicide is highly stigmatized, talking openly about it can reduce the number of deaths.

    “I have learned that it is important to talk about survivor stories. We know that suicide is preventable,” Dr. Anne Schuchat, the principal deputy director at the CDC, said in June. “We are in a different era right now, with social media increased and also social isolation is high… We think helping overcome the isolation can improve the connectedness.”

    View the original article at thefix.com