Getting Serious About Reducing Suicide: More “How” and Less “Why”

Between 2005 and 2012, age-adjusted mortality rates declined for all 10 leading causes of death in the US--except for suicide. The rate of suicide increased from 10.9 per 100 000 in 2005 to 12.6 per 100 000 in 2012. Suicide is intertwined with mental illness. People who have chronic mood disorders or psychosis are 10 to 20 times more likely to commit suicide than people without those disorders. Here, Swanson et al talk about suicide.