Increase in Suicide Cases

Running head: SUICIDE 1
Student name
Student No
Unit
Title: Increase in Suicide Cases

SUICIDE 2
Executive summary
Suicide is a medically expectable outcome of many mental illnesses. Suicide is
becoming a major health concern in the world as the most recent research and surveys shows
that it is on the increase. Since 1999, according to the WHO (2018) USA has experienced a
decrease in the number of suicide cases, though the recent statistics indicate the rate is still
alarming. Every year almost a million people commit suicide with even more people
attempting suicide. It is a tragedy as it affects families and the society at large. Its effect is
long lasting as the people left behind have to endure its effects for long. According to 2017
statistics, suicide was the 10th leading cause of death in the United States with more than 48
000 people dying out of suicide. There were more than 1 400 000 suicide attempts in the
same year. The suicide rate was discovered to be 14 people in every 100 000 with men
having a 3.54 rate higher than the women. The middle aged people are most affected by
suicide with an average of 129 cases per day.

SUICIDE 3
According to Trevino (2018), the rate at which suicide cases have been reported in the
past 3 years in the United States is alarming and calls for immediate attention. The rate has
increased to about 33 percent in 2017 from 10.5 percent in 1999. The increasing rate of
suicide has led to a drop in the life expectancy in America, with people living on average
78.5 years. For many years suicide has been linked with mental health issues but the recent
research shows that the increased suicide rate has no relationship with mental illnesses
(Stack, 2013). Suicide being a serious public issue, WHO (2018) claim that it could be
prevented through evidence based, timely and low cost interventions. There is need for
multisectoral prevention policies if the fight against suicide is to be effective nationwide. This
report aims at finding out why suicide in on the rise in the United States, factors contributing
to the rise, suicide warning signs, community based and state based solutions to suicide and
risks and productive factors.
This research used sources such as published journals, books and internet sources
such as websites.
In the developed nations the WHO (2018) has found a relationship between the
increasing suicide cases with mental illness such as depression and high alcohol intake.
However, they claim that suicide happens impulsively especially in times one is unable to
handle life stress like financial issues, break up in relationships and chronic illnesses and
pain. Experiences of loss, abuse, violence, conflicts, isolation and disasters has also been
linked with suicidal behaviours. Research has showed that the rate of suicide is high among
vulnerable groups who are at risk of discrimination. These groups include migrants, refugees,
gay, transgender, lesbians, indigenous people, intersex people and prisoners. According to
WHO (2018) the leading risk factor for suicide is a previous attempt in committing suicide.
According to Bracho-Sanchez (2019), a CNN new analyst, the number of children and young
adults who committed and attempted committing suicide in 2007 and 2015 has doubled.