Experts Puzzled about Massive Increase in Suicide among Americans. Here is What our Non-expert Thinks

Experts Puzzled about Massive Increase in Suicide among Americans. Here is What our Non-expert Thinks


NY Times reports that the suicide rate in USA is rising very fast.

Suicide in the United States has surged to the highest levels in nearly 30 years, a federal data analysis has found, with increases in every age group except older adults. The rise was particularly steep for women. It was also substantial among middle-aged Americans, sending a signal of deep anguish from a group whose suicide rates had been stable or falling since the 1950s.

The suicide rate for middle-aged women, ages 45 to 64, jumped by 63 percent over the period of the study, while it rose by 43 percent for men in that age range, the sharpest increase for males of any age. The overall suicide rate rose by 24 percent from 1999 to 2014, according to the National Center for Health Statistics, which released the study on Friday.

The increases were so widespread that they lifted the nations suicide rate to 13 per 100,000 people, the highest since 1986. The rate rose by 2 percent a year starting in 2006, double the annual rise in the earlier period of the study. In all, 42,773 people died from suicide in 2014, compared with 29,199 in 1999.

The article continues with several paragraphs of speculation from ‘experts’ on why the suicide rate is so high, and summarizes those views in one sentence.

The question of what has driven the increases is unresolved, leaving experts to muse on the reasons.

Our resident non-expert has a single word explanation - debt.

Interestingly, the NY Times article also mentions -

N.I.H. funding for suicide prevention projects had been relatively flat rising to $25 million in 2016 from $22 million in 2012

…with the suggestion that funding should be increased for ‘moaaaar studies’.

Our resident non-expert has different ideas.

Francis Collins Admits NIH Under Him Has Been Failing

Lets Discuss Is it Time to Shut Down NHGRI?



Written by M. //