Suicide Rates Overview
Computer Sciences and Information Technology
Structure:
1) Introduction
2) Background/Literature review
3) Research objective
Research object is to use a dataset and analyze it to answer questions such as the average age, sex and reasons for suicides
Introduction
Among the leading causes of preventable premature deaths in the world, today is suicide. Data from the United States Suicide Prevention Resource Center shows that there are approximately 30,000 suicide deaths reported annually in the United States while the global figure standards at an estimated 1 million annual deaths (Orlando, 2013). Studies show that there are emerging patterns in regards to how suicides rates occur among certain populations with men being more prone to suicide compared to women while elderly people are more likely to commit suicide than young people (Phillips, 2015). The causes of these rising suicide rates can be attributed to an interaction of many different factors key among them being depression, lack of strong social support systems, financial hardships, and marital breakdown, among others (Pridmore & Auchincloss, 2015). This study aims to explore the current suicide rates in the United States and the world, with the hope to providing the right information for government agencies and relevant stakeholders to come up with suicide prevention mechanisms.
Literature Review
By nature, humans are designed to fear death given the fact that life is considered to be a valuable personal asset. As such, it is not surprising that over the years a lot of research has been directed towards understanding and identifying different suicide trends. Emile Durkheim, the great sociologist is considered to be among the first scholars to spend a considerable amount of time studying suicide (Besnard, 2017). Since then, many research studies revolving around the subject of suicide have been conducted with the aim of understanding it better so as to come up with appropriate preventive measures. This section highlights different research studies that have explored suicide rates in different parts of the world.
Emile Durkheim described suicide as any form of death that resulted from the victim taking direct or indirect action with the aim of eliminating their life (Besnard, 2017). With this definition, Durkheim purposed to come up with a definition that outlined the true meaning of suicide while at the same time distinguishing it from accidental deaths. Suicide has always been a serious issue affecting all societies worldwide from the time of Emile Durkheim in the 1800s to date. However, suicide rates have been increasing gradually mainly due to the growth of a number of its risk factors among different class of people.
Studies show that globally, suicide rates for men have always been higher than those of women particularly in high-income countries (WHO, 2014). Moreover, in other studies show that men prefer to use more lethal methods to commit suicide compared to women with most men preferring to hang or shoot themselves because it would lead to instant death while women prefer softer methods such as taking drugs (Chehil & Kutcher, 2012). Comparing the two suicide techniques, men prefer methods that easily lead to death quickly while the technique used by women are softer and they can be easily be saved if appreciate action such as being rushed to the hospital is taken in good time. The violent nature of male suicides compared to women points to an underlying issue which could be used to explain why the rate of male suicide has remained higher than that of women.
Castilla-Puentes (2018) argue that the main risk factors contributing to the higher suicide rate among men than women are depression. According to Castilla-Puentes, from a young age, men are encouraged to suppress their emotions as a sign of masculinity, strength or independence, which has made it socially difficult for men to ask for help because it would be seen as a sign of weakness. This is contrary to the social expectation of women who are always free to request for help in case they find themselves in any socially or emotionally challenging situation. As a consequence, men tend to be very reluctant to disclose any suicidal thoughts they may be harboring. Castilla-Puentes (2018) disclosed that studies show that more than 80 percent of men who committed suicide didn’t seek any professional help regarding the situations they were going through. Based on these factors, we can conclude that there is a big gap between the rate of suicide among men and women because both groups respond to depressing situations differently.
Studies by Suicide Prevention Resource Center revealed that between 2008 and 2017, the rates of suicides among all age groups had increased significantly (SPRC, 2019). However, in recent years, the same study revealed that the rate of suicide among adults ranging from 25 to 44 years has surpassed the suicide rates among adults above 65 years. The SPRC also notes that though suicide is the leading cause of death for most people in the age bracket of 10 to 44 years, suicide rates tend to be highest for older people between 45 to 65 years. Moreover, the suicide rate in urban areas among these age groups also tends to be higher compared to people living in rural areas with most analysts suggesting economic pressures could be a huge contributor to these challenges (Phillips, 2015). According to Dr. Jerry Reed, the SPRC director, the key risk factor of suicide is a mental illness which can be occasioned by different pressers such as an individual’s economic conditions (SPRC, 2019). In most cases, most people’s livelihood opportunities tend to decline as they grow older a factor that could exert economic pressure on them leading to depression which leads to suicidal thoughts.
From the foregoing, the findings from these studies show that suicide rates vary between different genders and age groups with depression being a key risk factor. Suicide rates among men are higher compared to women with sociologists arguing that this could because men are socialized to be very reluctant to disclose any suicidal thoughts they may be harboring, which is a key cause of depression. Similar studies also show that though suicide is the leading cause of death for most people in the age bracket of 10 to 44 years, suicide rates tend to be highest for older people between 45 to 65 years (OECD, 2019). The OCED report suggests that with most people’s livelihood opportunities declining as they grow older, it exerts economic pressure on them leading to depression, a factor that explains the high suicide rate among elderly people.
Research Objective
By undertaking this research study, the aim is to analyze research data and establish any distinctive trends that could explain the developing cases of suicide among different groups. The research recognizes that suicide results from the interactions of different factors such as mental illness, financial hardship, and poor social support, among others. However, most governments and relevant stakeholders have failed to prioritize suicide as a serious social concern, a factor that could be contributing to the ever-rising cases. By undertaking this research, one of the objectives is also to raise awareness about the growing concerns of increasing suicide rates. As such, this research envisages that it will act as a key resource material for all the people and organization engaged in efforts to reduce suicide such as government agencies and policymakers, NGOs, the media, the general public, among others.
References
Besnard, P. (2017). Durkheim and Women, or The Incomplete Suicide. Emile Durkheim, 135-166. doi:10.4324/9781315256627-8
Castilla-Puentes, R. C. (2018). Understanding Risk Factors and Warning Signs for Suicide: A Primer for Preventing Suicide in Physicians. Suicide Prevention, 285-301. doi:10.1007/978-3-319-74391-2_16
OECD. (2019). 6.8. Suicide rates increase with age, except in the first years of retirement. Society at a Glance. doi:10.1787/888933405611
Orlando, J. (2013). Suicide rates. Hartford, CT: Connecticut General Assembly, Office of Legislative Research.
Phillips, J. A. (2015). Suicide, Sociology of. International Encyclopedia of the Social & Behavioral Sciences, 682-688. doi:10.1016/b978-0-08-097086-8.32156-0
Pridmore, S., & Auchincloss, S. (2015). Book reviews: Preventing suicide: A global imperative. Australasian Psychiatry, 23(1), 81-82. doi:10.1177/1039856214562079
SPRC. (2019, May 31). Suicide by Age – Suicide Prevention Resource Center. Retrieved from http://www.sprc.org/scope/age
WHO. (2014). Preventing suicide: A global imperative. Retrieved from https://www.who.int/mental_health/suicide-prevention/world_report_2014/en/
