The United States has the sixth highest suicide rate in the world. This dismal position comes after a decades-long increase in suicides over the past three decades.
A global ranking by international prescription service Universal Drugstore listed South Korea as the city with the most the highest rate of suicides in men and women, with Croatia and Australia ranking 10th.
Suicide has become the 10th leading cause of death in the U.S., with rates increasing 16 percent from 2011 to 2022, with the highest rate reported so far in 2022 at a record high of 49,369 suicide deaths.
The suicide rate in the US was 14.1 deaths per 100,000 people. That is considerably lower than the 24.1 suicides per capita in South Korea, but considerably higher than the 12.4 deaths per capita in Australia and Croatia.
The US suicide rate hit a record high in 2022 at more than 14 deaths per 100,000 people
International prescription service Universal Drugstore named South Korea as the country with the highest suicide rate among men and women, while Croatia and Australia came in 10th.
Men committed suicide more often in the top 10 countries. In Latvia, men committed suicide almost eight times more often than women, the highest ratio among the countries mentioned. On average, men committed suicide about four times more often.
After South Korea came Lithuania, with a per capita suicide rate of 18.5. Then came Slovenia, with 15.7 deaths per capita.
After Slovenia comes Japan with 15.4 deaths per 100,000, followed by Hungary with 14.8 deaths per 100,000.
In the US, 14.1 suicides were reported per capita, followed by Estonia with a suicide rate of 13.6 per capita.
Finland and Latvia ranked eighth and ninth, with 12.9 and 12.7 deaths per capita respectively.
Researchers said: ‘South Korea recorded the highest number of deaths by suicide at 24.1 per 100,000 people, followed by Lithuania, Slovenia, Japan and Hungary.
‘This suggests that cultural influences play a major role in determining suicide rates, as all of these countries are located in two specific geographic regions: East Asia and Eastern Europe.’
They didn’t give a detailed explanation for the high percentages, but it likely has to do with the stigma attached to mental health problems and seeking help in the form of therapy and medication.
South Korea and Japan have particularly stressful educational and work environments, and a social stigma surrounding mental health, which can lead to higher suicide rates there.
And former Soviet countries have experienced economic decline and social change over the years, leading to financial problems and social instability.
Suicide has become one of the top 10 causes of death in the US amid record high depression rates
CDC data shows that the number of suicides in 2022 will be the highest on record, surpassing the second highest number of deaths (2018) by more than 1,000
And in the US, high rates of depression and the availability of guns play a major role in suicide rates.
In the U.S., suicide rates are generally highest in rural areas. This is likely because more than 60 percent of rural Americans live in areas with a shortage of mental health professionals. In addition, more than 90 percent of psychologists and psychiatrists and 80 percent of social workers work exclusively in metropolitan areas.
Mental illness has reached epidemic proportions worldwide. About 280 million people suffer from depression, including five percent of the world’s adults and 5.7 percent of adults over 60.
According to Gallup, the percentage of people in the US diagnosed with depression has risen to 29 percent, up nearly 10 percentage points from 2015.
While men are more likely to commit suicide, women are more likely to be depressed: 37 percent of women report a depressive diagnosis, compared to 20 percent of men.
The percentage of people diagnosed with depression has risen to 29 percent, almost 10 percentage points higher than in 2015
Dr. Sarah Lipson, a professor of health policy at Boston University and principal investigator of the Healthy Minds Study, the largest and most comprehensive study of mental health in higher education, said the reasons for the record-high suicide rate are multifaceted.
She said: ‘Some of the same reasons we’ve seen increases in the prevalence of depression, anxiety and other conditions can also be considered risk factors for suicide. Some of these include financial stress, uncertainty – around the economy, the job market and socio-political factors – and loneliness, which has changed dramatically over the past century, even if we exclude the pandemic years.’
Suicide and depression rates are also increasing alarmingly among young adults and children. This trend has been exacerbated during the pandemic, as people have been forced to isolate themselves from friends and family.
She added: ‘And then there’s the manner: how people commit suicide in this country. We can’t talk about suicide and suicide prevention without talking about gun laws. Most suicide deaths involve firearms, and restricting access to firearms is an important way to prevent people from committing suicide.’
A survey by CNN and the Kaiser Family Foundation found that about half of parents say the pandemic is having a negative impact on their child’s mental health, with 17 percent saying the pandemic is having a “severe negative impact.”
A CDC report on youth mental health trends from 2011 to 2021 found that 13 percent of high school girls had attempted suicide, while 30 percent had seriously considered it. That jumped to more than 20 percent for LGBTQ+ teens, with 45 percent seriously considering it.