Teenage Suicide Prevention

If one wasn’t aware, suicide is when someone takes their own life. Suicide is the tenth leading cause of death in the United States. Each year, 42,773 Americans die from suicide. On average in every twenty-five suicide attempts, one attempt is successful.

Suicide costs the United States $44 billion annually. The annual, age-adjusted, suicide rate is 12.92 per 100,000 individuals. Men die by suicide about 3.5 times more often than women.

On average, there are 117 suicide cases or suicide attempts per day. White males are accounted for 7 out of 10 suicide attempts in 2014. Firearms account for almost 50% of all suicides.

The rate of suicide is highest in middle-age, white men, on average. In 2014, the highest suicide rate, 19.3%, was among people eighty-five years or older. The second highest rate of 19.2% occurred between the ages of forty-five and sixty-four. In 2014, adolescents and young adults aged fifteen to twenty-four had a suicide rate of 11.6%.

In 2014, firearms were the most common method of death by suicide, accounting for a little less than half of all suicide deaths. The next most common methods were suffocation (including hangings) at 26.7% and poisoning at 15.9%. Self-harm, such as cutting and burning, are major indicators of people who have suicidal thought, and actions.

If you think having no life at all is better than the life you had, think again because people change. According to Kellin Quinn, lead singer and songwriter of the band Sleeping with Sirens, “Wrists are for bracelets, not [for] cutting”. Please know, scarring your skin or taking your own life is never worth it. Things always get better, life may be difficult at this time, but it will get better. Stay strong because your life is worth living.

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