Alarming Rise: Suicide Rates Soar in the U.S.

Suicide Rates Soar in the U.S.
Suicide Rates Soar in the U.S. Credit | Getty images

United States: A recent research done by CDC shows that world’s fourth most common cause of death in the United States is suicide and many more than 49,000 people in the United States committed suicide in the year 2022.

As reported by the Fox News, while it is well acknowledged that most suicides originate from mental illness, figures reveal that the behavior tends to be “copycat” from time to time and because what is referred to as “suicide clusters.

According to the CDC suicide clusters are “a group of suicides or suicide attempts that mainly occurs more frequently than one would expect in a community in terms of both temporal and spatial dimensions.” Dr. Caroline Fenkel, a licensed clinical social worker who bulked her practice in suicide prevention in Pennsylvania also alleged to the fact that suicide act spreads a phenomenon especially in the youth.

“The idea of suicide ultimately becomes more attainable when people learn about other suicides, if it is of similar age or people around them, she said to Fox News Digital.

The more the details are shared especially in sensational ways then there is higher risk involved.

More children die from suicide than from leukaemia, and up to 5% of such deaths are linked to contagion, says Jennifer Kelman, a licensed clinical care social worker based in Florida who is affiliated with JustAnswer, an on-demand expert help service.

“It doesn’t necessarily translate into more for everyone in that community, but for those who are struggling as well — with depression, anxiety and other feelings that may be overwhelming,” she said to Fox News Digital.

There are 5 possible reasons for the suicide contagion.

Dr. Deborah Gilman, owner and chief licensed psychologist at Fox Chapel Psychological Services in the Pennsylvania which shared the following four factors that can actually contribute to the suicide clusters.

1.Normalization

Its normal when people hear about the suicides, and it can normalize the idea of using it as a way to deal with the problems according to the experts.

2. Copying or modeling

“Some people may have interacted with the man and may feel like they know him hence they may mimic his actions,” Gilman said.

“In compounds or schools or other social units in which people live in close contact, when one of them commits suicide, the same feeling of despair or tend to do the same can be felt or done by other individuals in the same social setting.” she said.

‘This can be because of lack of hope or they feel that they do not want to live with the pain they have’.

3. Social proof

The pitfalls in this line of thinking is that people can be convinced that if others are selecting suicide, then it is ok for them to do that as well, as observed by Gilman.

According to Suniya S. Kaleem, from social learning theory, when a particular behavior is considered as a positive behavior or as a way of solving certain problem such as committing suicide, then the behavior or act will be practiced over and again.

4. Vulnerability

There may be pre-existing mental health conditions including but not necessarily limited to depression and anxiety that puts someone at risk of ideation or actions of suicide, said Gilman.

People in some form of stress, for example job loss, divorce, or money issues may be more vulnerable she professed.

5. Recency bias

’It means that people tend to overestimate the occurrence of events which are easily remembered,’ Gilman said.

For example, if a recent highly reported suicide has occurred, it is likely to make the construct idea of committing suicide more ‘available cognitively’ in peoples’ minds.