Evidence Of The Need For Improved Suicidal Screening

Suicide is a severe community health matter which can have lifelong negative consequences on individuals, families, and the society. Reduce suicidal risk factors and increase protective measures are the main objective of suicide prevention. The Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) defined suicide as the “death caused by self-directed injurious behavior with intent to die as a result of the behavior; suicide attempt is “A non-fatal, self-directed, potentially injurious behavior with an intent to die as a result of the behavior; might not result in injury’; and suicidal ideation is “thinking about, considering, or planning suicide” (2015).

The National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) has published a fact sheet of statistics on suicide in the United States. In 2007, it is reported that suicide was the tenth leading cause of death. Furthermore, for every suicide committed, eleven were attempted. A total of 34,598 deaths occurred from suicide with an overall rate of 11.3 suicide deaths per 100,000 people. (NIMH, 2010). Risk factors were also noted on this report and listed “depression and other mental disorders, or a substance abuse disorder (often in combination with other mental disorders). More than ninety percent of people who die by suicide have these risk factors (NIMH, 2010).”

According to Fowler, Crosby, Parks, and Ivey (2013), suicide and nonfatal suicidal ideations are significant public health concerns for adolescents and young adults. While the onset of suicidal behaviors is observed as young as six years of age, rates of death and nonfatal injury resulting from suicidal behavior are moderately low until 15 years of age (Fowler et al., 2013). According to Fowler et al (2013), the most current available statistics in the United States (U. S.) reported suicide as the third leading cause of death among youth aged 10-14 and 15-19 years, and it was the second leading cause of death among persons aged 20-24 years.

A clear disparity in suicide exists among males and females. The CDC (2015), reports males four times more likely to commit suicide and represents 77% of all suicides. Females tend to develop suicidal thoughts and use passive methods of suicide such as overdoes or poisoning (CDC, 2015). To contrast, males will likely use a lethal method of suicide such and a gun shot to the head or hit by train (CDC, 2015).

Suicide rate is a grow problem in the United States according to the American foundation for suicide prevention more than 41,149 suicides were reported in 2013. The highest rate of suicides is committed by adults between age 45-64 and this is especially true amongst the elderly. Older adults are inflected with a terminal disease, loneness and depression and because of this they are committing suicide at a higher rate. Suicide amongst the men is steadily higher than women, in 2013, 77.9% were male and 22.1% were female. Men success rate for suicide is much higher, because their attempt is more lethal, for example, men are more than likely to shot themselves, whereas women are more likely to use poisons to end their life. Suicide Rate committed race/ethnicity was higher among Whites 14.2%, American Indians and Alaska Natives 11.7%, Asians and Pacific Islanders 5.8%, Blacks 5.4% and Hispanics 5.7%. According to the mean method used to commit suicide is a firearm, then suffocation and poisoning. The main cause of suicide is due to mental health condition and depression is at the foremost leading factor.

At some point in one’s life they may believe that the only solution to their physical or mental problem is suicide. Although, we think that the majority of people who try to commit suicide just want attention. Suicide is the 10th leading cause of death in the in the United States in 2013, bypassing homicide which came in at 16th place (Facts & Figures, 2014). The facts indications by the CDC estimate that someone will commit suicide in the United States every 13 minutes (Facts & Figures, 2014). Unlike most common disease’s suicide does not discriminate against age, or sex, or social class, it is estimated that males represent 79 percent of the people who do commit suicide in the United States (Facts & Figures, 2014).

Suicide is the third-leading cause of death for 15-24 year olds. Nearly 60% of suicides in the United States are committed with a gun. Overdose using over-the-counter, prescription, and nonprescription medicine is also a very common method for suicide. In 2001 there were 400,000 emergency room visits, 30,622 deaths, 16,869 firearm suicides, 6,198 suffocation suicides, and 5,191 poisoning suicides. Suicide is committed because some people are depressed, they use firearms and overdosing on drugs to commit their suicide.

Suicide is the tenth leading cause of death and is growing at a fast rate in America. Every thirteen minutes a death by suicide occurs. Currently the suicide rate for males is five times higher compared to that of females. Out of all US suicides, male suicide takes up approximately 79%. This phenomena continues to persist even after years of this statistic being put on the public spectrum. These causes for suicide include but are not limited to; the pressure put upon men to be “the primary earner” and provide for the family, the collapse of the job market during 2008 when there was an alarming spike in male suicide and job loss, and the fact that when men do commit suicide they tend to do it with lethal methods such as a firearm.

De Munck, Portzky, & Van Heeringen, (2009) define suicide as an individual deliberately acts in self-harming or destructive behavior. Bremberg (2015) states that when an individual experiences stress that is greater than they can handle is when they are at a higher risk of committing suicide. Borges et al. (2008) states that there are three specific behaviors that lead to suicide-related outcomes: suicide ideation, suicide plan, and suicide attempts. The presence of psychiatric disorders increases the possibility of suicidality. Borges et al. (2008) defines suicide attempt as “self-destructive behaviors not leading to death.” Shirav & Levy (2013) found that suicide rates are higher in more economically advanced countries. The world’s highest

Suicide among males is approximately 3 and a half times higher than among females. That’s likely because men tend to choose more violent methods such as the use of guns and hanging. That seems to be statistically true, because while successful suicide among men is 3 and a half times higher than females, females ATTEMPT suicide or have thoughts about suicide about 3 times as often than males. Suicide is also the second leading cause of death globally in individuals aged 15–29 years old. Globally, every 40 seconds an individual commits suicide, and that’s projected to double to be every 20 seconds by 2020.

Since men are less likely to seek medical help, there are more males lost because of suicide, although twice as many females attempt at killing themselves. The University of Washington published the article, Facts About Mental Illness and Suicide, which states that three to twenty percent of bipolars and six to fifteen percent of schizophrenics die by suicide. Also, people with personality disorders are an estimated three times as likely to take their life during desperate measures according to the University of Washington’s Mental Health Report. Since so many of these mental illnesses go undiagnosed and untreated, this leaves many people facing an extremely high chance for a suicidal death.

There is a significant disparity in suicide rates between males and females; more specifically, the rates of attempted and completed suicides are unbalanced. Studies conducted by CDC in 2015 show that males are nearly four times as successful in completion of suicide than females; however, the prevalence of suicidal thoughts is much higher among females than it is among males as shown in the 2013 research by SAMHSA (29). So if women are more likely to experience suicidal thoughts and attempt suicide, why are men more likely to actually die from suicide? A biological study found that lower serotonin and higher dopamine levels in males causes them to be more depressed and impulsively act, therefore increasing the suicide rate (Kumpula). Other studies try to explain this without the interference of genetic differences. Mościcki reports that this paradox is due to the differential rate of depression and alcohol abuse between the genders (156). Canetto and Sakinofsky say that it is predominantly a cultural aspect, that is, different suicidal behaviours are expected of females and males (1). Callanan and Davis attribute this to the lethality of the methods chosen by men and women (Social Psychiatry and Psychiatric Epidemiology 857). In this essay, I will be exploring Callanan and Davis’ theory to explain the higher rates of suicide in men, despite not attempting it as often as females.

Men are more likely to commit suicide than women. “Of the reported suicides in the 10 to 24 age group, 81% of the deaths were males and 19% were females” (Gateway to Health Communication & Social Marketing Practice). Even though, women talk about suicide more than men, men are more likely to react to it. Men don’t take time to think over the consequence unlike women. Women tend to take time to process their thoughts, their future, their fortune and their people. Men like to be quick and easy when it comes to death so, if they would take their own life they would use gun. Woman on other hand would take things slowly, she would plan thing out of how and when would she do it, women are more likely to overdose themselves, hang themselves, or drown themselves (Gateway to Health Communication & Social Marketing Practice). Sometimes people do not know why

Suicide is the demonstration of purposefully bringing on one 's own death. Suicide is regularly done as an aftereffect of hopelessness, the reason for which is every now and again ascribed to a mental issue, for example, sorrow, bipolar issue, schizophrenia, marginal identity issue, liquor addiction, or medication misuse, and in addition anxiety variables, for example, money related challenges, issues with interpersonal connections, and harassing. Suicide anticipation endeavors incorporate restricting access to technique for suicide, for example, guns and toxic substances, treating emotional instability and medication abuse, and enhancing financial circumstances. In spite of the fact that emergency hotlines are normal, there is little confirmation for their viability.

Suicide is currently the 10th leading cause of death in the United States (Suicide and Self-Inflicted Injury, 2017). On average, 121 Americans complete suicide each day (CDC Fatal Injuries Report 2015, 2015). The American people are living longer with advances to medical care and technology, yet suicide rates continue to rise. According to the CDC, suicide rates have increased by 24% from the year 1999 to 2014 (Curtain, Warner & Hedegaard, 2016). Consequently, the suicide epidemic continues to grow with no clear path to prevention. This literature review was conducted using the Robert Morris University Library online databases. Databases accessed include PubMed…………., from the years 2000 to 2017. Overall, most the articles obtained are