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Washington (ChatterShmatter) – A new report released in the US finds that the rate of suicide in the country is increasing.
The report finds that the suicide rate is increasing largely in part to middle aged females between 40 and 64 years of age who are killing themselves at an ever increasing rate compared to other demographics.
The study looked at suicide data from 1999 to 2005, and found that overall, the suicide rate rose by 0.7 percent, but increased for the middle aged white female demographic by more than 3.5 percent.
Firearms, which have been the constant leading method of suicide, still remained relatively high when it came to the method of choice, but hanging or suffocation were found to be on the increase.
“The results underscore a change in the epidemiology of suicide, with middle-aged whites emerging as a new high-risk group,” said study co-author Susan P. Baker, a professor with the Bloomberg School’s Center for Injury Research and Policy, in a news release.
“Historically, suicide prevention programs have focused on groups considered to be at highest risk — teens and young adults of both genders as well as elderly white men,” she continued. “This research tells us we need to refocus our resources to develop prevention programs for men and women in their middle years.”
