Newsweek Article on the Dramatic Increase in the Suicide Rate

[sillymagpie]

Suicide is now the leading killer of people aged 15 to 49, surpassing heart disease and cancer, and all generations born after 1945 are exhibiting a much higher suicide rate than normal. Worldwide, more people now die from suicide than from war, murder, and natural disasters combined. Joiner's analysis is a bit simplistic, but the Newsweek

Comments

[houseboatonstyx]

This year, America is likely to reach a grim milestone: the 40,000th death by suicide, the highest annual total on record, and one reached years ahead of what would be expected by population growth alone.

That's a good point, but I wonder if the writer really looked at all the other possible factors that might influence these figures. The flip-sensationalist style of the rest of the article suggests bias.

[sillymagpie]

Oh, yeah, I think his framework is waaaaay too simplistic. But the statistics are interesting. Suicide, like most human action, is influenced by a wide range of factors, IMHO.