11 Facts About Suicide

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To connect with support and resources for suicidal crisis or emotional distress, call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 1-800-273-8255, text or chat online (and find more resources at the bottom of this page).

1. 47,173 Americans died of suicide in 2017, making it the 10th leading cause of death in the US.^[American Association of Suicidology. “Facts and Statistics.” Accessed September 6, 2019. https://suicidology.org/facts-and-statistics/.]
2. There were twice as many suicides as there were homicides in the US in 2017.^[National Institute of Mental Health. “Suicide Statistics.” Accessed September 6, 2019, https://www.nimh.nih.gov/health/statistics/suicide.shtml.]
3. Suicide was the second leading cause of death for people ages 10-34 in the US in 2017.^[Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. "10 Leading Causes of Death, United States.” Accessed September 6, 2019. https://webappa.cdc.gov/cgi-bin/broker.exe]
4. On average, 1 person dies by suicide every 11 minutes in the US.^[American Association of Suicidology. “Facts and Statistics.” Accessed September 6, 2019. https://suicidology.org/facts-and-statistics/.]
5. About 50% of people in the US know someone who has died by suicide in their lifetime. ^[William Feigelman, et al. "Suicide Exposures and Bereavement Among American Adults." Journal of Effective Disorders. Accessed September 6, 2019. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0165032717311631?via%3Dihub.]
6. 10.5% of adults in the US 18-25 years old had serious suicidal thoughts in 2017.^[National Institute of Mental Health. “Suicide Statistics.” Accessed September 6, 2019, https://www.nimh.nih.gov/health/statistics/suicide.shtml.]
7. Lesbian, gay, bisexual, and questioning youth are almost 5 times more likely to attempt suicide. ^[The Trevor Project. “Facts About Suicide.” Accessed September 6, 2019. https://www.thetrevorproject.org/resources/preventing-suicide/facts-about-suicide/.]
8. In a national study, 40% of transgender adults reported having made a suicide attempt. 92% of these individuals reported having attempted suicide before the age of 25.^[The Trevor Project. “Facts About Suicide.” Accessed September 6, 2019. https://www.thetrevorproject.org/resources/preventing-suicide/facts-about-suicide/.]
9. Women are 3 times more likely than men to attempt suicide, and men are 3.5 times more likely to have a fatal outcome when attempting suicide.^[American Association of Suicidology. “Facts and Statistics.” Accessed September 6, 2019. https://suicidology.org/facts-and-statistics/.]
10. 79% of global suicides occur in low- and middle-income countries.^[World Health Organization. “Suicide: Key Facts.” Accessed September 6, 2019. https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/suicide.]
11. Firearms accounted for 23,854 suicides in the US in 2017 -- that’s about half of all suicide deaths.^[American Association of Suicidology. “Facts and Statistics.” Accessed September 6, 2019. https://suicidology.org/facts-and-statistics/.]

Additional Resources

Crisis Text Line: text HOME to 741741 to connect with a crisis counselor 24/7

Trevor Project: 24/7 LGBTQ+ crisis intervention and suicide prevention hotline at 1-866-488-7386

Trans Lifeline: peer support hotline run by and for trans people at 877-565-8860

To Write Love on Her Arms: to find local resources in your area