For one thing, suicide is in the top 10 causes of death in many countries (1996). It is estimated that more than 450,000 people in the world commit suicide every year. Many Western countries have suicide rates of 20 or more per 100,000 people; in fact, Western cultures in general seem to have higher rates of suicide - perhaps as an outcome of their higher rates of depression. In contrast, some cultures have no known incidence of suicide whatsoever. The rate of suicide also rises in old age (particularly among men), reaching a rate of more than 25 per 100,000 for people between the ages of 75 and 84 years.
Although we are not certain of the number of people who attempt suicide, estimates range roughly between 250,000 and 600,000 per year in the United States. Many attempts probably go unrecorded. These estimates imply that for every sucessful suicide, there are probably more than 10 unsuccessful attempts. Many people who try once will then try again and continue until they succeed.
Men are much more likely to succeed in committing suicide than are women. Although the rate of suicide for men is almost four times that for women, the rate of suicide attempts is three times as great for women as for men. At least one reason for the difference is that men are more likely to shoot or hang themselves whereas women are more likely to use drugs, such as sleeping pills. Clearly, shooting and hanging are more likely to lead to death than is an overdose of pills.
Other demographic factors also play a role. Men who are divorced are three times more likely to kill themselves than are married men. Both men and women at all socioeconomic levels commit suicide, but professionals (e.g., psychologists, pshchiatrists, attorneys, and physicians) are especially likely to do so. Finally, although suicide ranks in general only eighth as a cause of death among adults in ranks third after accidents and homicides as a cause of death among people between the ages of 15 and 24 years. Among these young adults, whites are twice as likely as blacks to kill themselves.
The two main motivations for suicide appear to be surcease and manipulation. Those who seek surcease are people who have given up on life. They see death as the only solution to their problems and take their lives. Slightly more than half of suicides appear to be of this kind. People seeking surcease are usually depressed, hopeless, and more nearly certain that they really wish for their lives to end.
In contrast, those who view suicide as a means of manipulation use suicide to maneuver the world according to their desires. They may view suicide as a way to inflict revenge on a lover who has rejected them, to gain the attention of those who have ignored them, to hurt those who have hurt them, or to have the last word in an argument. Many of those who attempt suicide in this manner ar not fully committed to dying but rather are using suicide as a call for attention and help. Roughly 13% of suicide attempts are of this kind. Unless they receive help, people who attempt manipulative suicide often try to commit suicide again and may continue until they succeed.
Several myths surround suicide. It is useful to know about these myths so that you or anyone can be more helpful to depressed individuals who are contemplating suicide. If you think those who consider suicide cannot be talked out of it, you are already a believer of the first myth.
Myth 1: All people who commit suicide have definately decided that they want to die. In fact, many of those who commit suicide are not certain that they want to die. They often take a gamble that someone will save them. Sometimes, for example, persons attempting suicide will take pills and then call someone to tell that person of the suicide attempt. If the person is not there, or if that person does not follow through quickly in response to the call, the suicide attempt may succeed.
Myth 2: People who talk about committing suicide do not actually go ahead and do it. In fact, close to 8 out of 10 people who commit suicide have given some warning beforehand that they were about to do something. Often, they have given multiple warnings.
Myth 3: Suicide occurs more often among people who are wealthy. In fact, suicide is about equally prevalent in all levels of the socioeconomic spectrum.
Myth 4: People who commit suicide are always depressed beforehand. Although depression is linked with suicide, some people who take their lives show no signs of depression at all. People with terminal illnesses, for example, may commit suicide not because they are depressed, but to spare loved ones the suffering of having to support them, or because they have made peace with the idea of death and have decided that the time has come.
Myth 5: People who commit suicide are crazy. Although suicide is linked to depression, relatively few of the people who commit suicide are truly out of touch with reality.
Myth 6: The risk of suicide ends when a person improves in mood following a major depression or a previous suicidal crisis. In fact, most suicides occur while an individual is still depressed but after the individual has begun to show some recovery. Often, people who are severely depressed are unable even to gather the energy to put together the means to commit suicide, so the suicide is more likely to occur as they are beginning to feel better and have the energy to do something about their wish to die.
Myth 7: Suicide is influenced by the cosmos - sun spots, phases of the moon, the position of planets, and so on. In fact, no evidence supports any of these beliefs.