Module 1 > Catastrophic events and suicide > Pre-COVID suicide trends
While this module is focused on the impact of catastrophic events on communities, it’s important to contextualize the issue and call attention to upward trends of suicide generally. Overall suicide rates increased 33% from 1999 to 2019 with a small decrease in 2019. According to the CDC’s Leading Causes of Death Report, in 2019, over 47,500 individuals died as a result of suicide, making suicide the tenth leading cause of death overall. The image below from the CDC shows suicide trends between 1999-2016.
In times of infrastructure disruption, like the coronavirus pandemic or catastrophic adverse climate events, communities experience increased trauma. Research from the Well Being Trust and the Robert Graham Center for Policy Studies in Family Medicine and Primary Care project an increase in deaths, as many as 75,000 more people will die from drug or alcohol misuse and suicide due to “unprecedented economic failure paired with massive unemployment, mandated social isolation for months and possible residual isolation for years, and uncertainty caused by the sudden emergence of a novel, previously unknown microbe.”
Reflection question: What can/does your agency or organization do to counter trauma and other risk factors for suicide?
Read: In this Health Affairs blog post, To Address Opioids And Diseases Of Despair, Communities Must Build Resilience, Larissa Estes, formerly of Prevention Institute, and Benjamin F. Miller of Well Being Trust call for a national resilience strategy: "Only by understanding the underlying causes of these diseases that are holding our communities hostage will we be able to adequately support those who need immediate treatment and “space” to heal; prevent addiction from taking hold of our loved ones and neighbors; and shore up the overall health and well-being of entire communities."
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