After a long, steady decline in national suicide rates, those numbers began steadily ticking up in the late 1990s and have generally risen ever since, with nearly 50,000 people in the U.S. taking their own lives in 2022, up 3% from the previous year.
Scholars seeking explanations for this troubling trend have pointed to everything from generally declining mental health to increased social media exposure and heightened access to firearms.
But a new CU Boulder study points to two other surprising drivers: Increased access to potentially lethal prescription opioids has made it easier for women, specifically, to end their own lives; and a shrinking federal safety net has contributed to rising suicide rates among all adults during tough economic times, the study suggests.
“We contend that the U.S. federal government’s weak regulatory oversight of the pharmaceutical industry and tattered social safety nets have significantly shaped U.S. suicide risk,” said first author Daniel Simon, a doctoral candidate in the Department of Sociology and research affiliate with the Institute of Behavioral Science.
#James Donaldson notes: Welcome to the “next chapter” of my life… being a voice and an advocate for #mentalhealthawarenessandsuicideprevention, especially pertaining to our younger generation of students and student-athletes. Getting men to speak up and reach out for help and assistance is one of my passions. Us men need to not suffer in silence or drown our sorrows in alcohol, hang out at bars and strip joints, or get involved with drug use. Having gone through a recent bout of #depression and #suicidalthoughts myself, I realize now, that I can make a huge difference in the lives of so many by sharing my story, and by sharing various resources I come across as I work in this space.#http://bit.ly/JamesMentalHealthArticle Find out more about the work I do on my 501c3 non-profit foundation website www.yourgiftoflife.org Order your copy of James Donaldson’s latest book, #CelebratingYourGiftofLife: From The Verge of Suicide to a Life of Purpose and Joy
For the study—published in the Journal of Health and Social Behavior—Simon and Ryan Masters, associate sociology professor, analyzed records of more than 16 million deaths among U.S. adults between 1990 and 2017. When separating the nearly 600,000 suicide deaths by intentional poisoning versus non-poisoning (all other methods of self-harm), two notable spikes in the data emerged: in 1997 and 2007.
Giving a person a job or proper health care can also be a suicide prevention tool.” –Dan Simon
In 1997—one year after the long-acting opioid OxyContin hit the market and kicked off the nation’s opioid crisis—women’s suicide rates by poisoning (the preferred method among females) began ticking up by about 2% per year through 2017 after declining by about 3% annually over the previous decade.
Women aged 40 to 55 were hit hardest.
“In the late 1990s, the method women often consider using to attempt to end their life suddenly became much more potent and much more available, with devastating consequences,” said Simon.
Notably, states without prescription drug monitoring programs experienced larger increases in women’s suicide rates from poisonings.
After controlling for other factors, the authors conclude that increased availability of opioids and other prescription drugs like benzodiazepines was solely responsible for driving women’s self-poisoning suicides rates up from 1997 to 2006.
“Our study showed that the approval, easy access and over-prescription of opioid-based pain relievers had deleterious consequences for U.S. suicide rates for women, a reality that has been overlooked in discussions of the opioid epidemic,” said Simon.
A tattered safety net
Among all men and women, non-poisoning suicide rates remained relatively stable across the 1990s and 2000s.
But in 2007, at the onset of the housing and financial crash that kicked off the Great Recession, these rates spiked and continued to climb, ticking up anywhere from 2% annually among Black men and 2.5% annually among white men to 9% annually among American Indian/Alaska Native women. These trends continued long after the recession subsided.
Ryan Masters
When looking at state-level financial indicators, the authors found that suicide rates strongly paralleled changes in states’ economic conditions, such as stagnating wages, higher unemployment and increased poverty.
Economic downturns are not always associated with increases in suicides. In Sweden during a massive economic crash from 1990 to 1994, suicide deaths did not increase, in part because the government invested in social safety net programs to minimize the health effects of financial strain, Simon said. While rates spiked at the onset of the Great Depression, they plummeted after the passage of the New Deal in 1933, which put Americans back to work via publicly funded projects.
In contrast, U.S. policymakers during the Great Recession prioritized market stabilization, investing $2 trillion in the banking sector while cutting funding for federal housing and urban development programs by $3.8 billion, the authors note.
“Oftentimes, the health consequences of an economic downturn can be mitigated by aggressive moves to alleviate the financial burden of individuals,” said Masters. “Unfortunately, that did not happen during the Great Recession or during the slow and unequal recovery since. This has left individuals more vulnerable to economic stressors and that likely has spilled over into the elevation of suicide rates.”
The authors stress that a host of psychiatric and social factors can push individual suicide risk up. They hope their work can demonstrate that there are also broader “structural determinants” of suicide risk.
“Suicide hotline crisis numbers and efforts to help people at the individual level are all amazing and necessary, but our work shows that higher-level, institutional interventions are also critical in addressing this crisis,” said Simon. “Giving a person a job or proper health care can also be a suicide-prevention tool.”
James Donaldson is a Washington State University graduate (’79). After an outstanding basketball career with WSU, he went on to play professional basketball in the NBA with the Seattle Supersonics, San Diego/L.A. Clippers, Dallas Mavericks, New York Knicks, and Utah Jazz. He also played for several teams in the European Leagues in Spain, Italy, and Greece, and he toured with The Harlem Globetrotters to wrap up his career. James was an NBA All-Star in 1988 while playing center for the Dallas Mavericks. In 2006, James was inducted into the Pac-10 Sports Hall of Fame and also the Washington State University Athletic Hall of Fame. In 2010, James was elected as a board member for the NBA Retired Players Association.
James frequently conducts speaking engagements (motivational, inspirational, educational) for organizations, schools, and youth groups.
In 2010, James was the recipient of the NBA Legends of Basketball ABC Award, awarded for outstanding contributions in Athletics–Business–Community.
He believes in being a role model for success and professionalism to the scores of young people to whom he devotes so much of his time. He currently serves on several boards and committees and is a member of many organizations.
James believes in developing relationships that create a “Win-Win” environment for everyone involved, and in being the best he can be!
For more information about James Donaldson or to request he speak at your event, contact him at:
James Donaldson is the author of “Standing Above The Crowd” and “Celebrating Your Gift of Life” and founder of the Your Gift of Life Foundation which focuses on mental health awareness and suicide prevention, especially pertaining to our school aged children and men.
If you’re interested in having James come and speak to your group of young adults, business entrepreneurs, aspiring political and community leaders, and athletic teams, please contact him at jamesd@yourgiftoflife.org and or leave a personal message for him at 1-800-745-3161. Keep up with him and read about how he is reaching out and making a difference in the lives of so many around the world at www.yourgiftoflife.org
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