Often times it is where one overlooks that requires the most attention. Suicide now has become one of those realms which is overlooked. Each year in the United States of America, the rates increase. All psychiatric illnesses lead to a higher chance and rate of suicide. Key indicators of possible risk include keeping secrets, isolation, depression, and expressions of despair. Depression leads to a higher risk of being suicidal along with anorexia due to the effects of starvation. Substance abuse in general greatly accelerates the risk of suicide from other mental illnesses. It is important to note that genetic vulnerability does not play a role in many mental illnesses and addiction; however, familial and even peer influences may impact and increase the risk of suicide. There is no exact data for the precise number of completed suicides in the United States of America, nevertheless each year the Center for Disease Control gathers data regarding non-fatal injuries acquired by self-harm from hospitals to compile the needed information. Suicide is a form of self-harm with different mentalities behind it depending on the age and gender of the individual, requires federal funding, and can be seen throughout the media and entertainment industry, therefore resulting in an increase in suicide mortality.
Suicide, according to the National Institute of Mental Health, is defined as ‘death caused by self-directed injurious behavior with intent to die as a result of such behavior; a suicide attempt is a non-fatal self-directed, potentially injurious behavior with intent to die as a result of the behavior. A suicide attempt might not result in injury, [while] suicidal ideation refers to thinking about, considering, or planning suicide.’ Based on recent nationwide studies and surveys, the rates of suicide are increasing steadily in some populations all across the United States of America. It is important to note that, according to research and data collected by the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention, 90% of the deaths by suicide are completed by individuals who have a completely diagnosable and treatable psychiatric disorder ranging from depression to other diagnosable mental disorders, or a substance abuse (which is often combined with depression, or another mental/psychiatric disorder), but is not limited to those handful of disorders; only 10% of those who have either never attempted, or attempted and not [yet] completed are still alive with diagnosable and treatable psychiatric disorders. The reasoning behind why nine out of ten individuals with these completely diagnosable and treatable mental health illnesses complete a suicide is because of how stigmatized it has become in the media and by our society, and how far more frequently than not each individual who is open about suffering from one, let alone more mental health illnesses, is stereotyped and judged for an illness they did not choose; nobody wakes up one days and chooses to have cancer, and it is just the same for mental health illnesses: nobody wakes up and decides to be suicidal. For every completed suicide, there are 25 separate attempts for committing a suicide. According to research conducted and compiled by MedicineNet.com, those who have a history of violent self-harm attempts in hopes of committing a suicide are commonly among those who have diminished brain chemical levels, such as serotonin, therefore frequently leading to those patients being diagnosed with disorders like, but not limited to, depression, impulse control disorders, and postmortem brains. Research has also shown that mortality rates from suicide have more than doubled in the last decade while rates of teen depression and suicide are continuing to increase, initially skyrocketing in 2011.
When comparing suicide deaths to that of homicidal deaths, mortality by suicide outnumbers mortality in homicide by five to three. Data collected in 2015 by the National Institute of Mental Health proves further how much of a problem suicide has become. These results indicate is the second leading cause of death in ages 15 ‘ 24 and 25 ‘ 34; this is the time in life when youth starts high school, moves to college, and begins their life, so it is one of the most stressful times in their lives. The results show that for the age group of 15 ‘ 24, Unintentional Injury is the leading cause of death with 13,895 in the year of 2015, but compare that to Suicide with 5,723; combining the totals, suicide makes up nearly 30% of the deaths. For the age range of 25 ‘ 34, Unintentional Injury is the leading cause with 23,984 deaths in comparison to Suicide with 7,366; totaling the deaths for that group and suicide accounts for 24% of the deaths. If combing the totals of both age groups, then suicide accounts for 26% of the deaths. And this rate continues to grow with each year.
Gender plays an important factor in suicide mortality rates increasing annually, as do overlook risked factors. In younger adults, women twice as likely to become suicidal and more commonly are among those who complete a suicide; this changes with age though. When reaching adulthood, there is a role reversal and men die by suicide 3.53 times more frequently than women; 7 out of 10 suicides were completed by white males in the year of 2016.
When looking at the total losses accounted for annually due to suicide, the next aspect to consider is the method of self-disposal, in other words, how to do the deed. According to the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention, the four most commonly seen forms of attempting, and completing, a suicide is by firearms, poisoning, suffocation, and other. The foundation did a survey to collect data in order to formulate the outcome rates for each category. When the data was tallied with both the female
and male gender as a whole, the results were staggering. It revealed that 51% of suicide methods are attempted and completed by firearms, 26% from suffocation, 15% by the use of a toxic or poisonous ingestion, and 8% choosing another method.
This was further broken down to focus on each gender individually. The data showed that men gravitated towards a faster method which was also a messier method, resulting in 56.6% of male suicide attempts and completions done by firearms while compared to 32.1% of women used firearms are their preferred method for attempting and completing a suicide. When looking at poisoning, the numbers flipped; the data collected show that women prefer a less messy form of attempting and completing a suicide. When breaking down the numbers for poisoning as a preferred method attempting and completing a suicide, women resulted in 33% choosing this form compared to the 9.5% of men who chose it. The results for suffocation between both genders are fairly similar with 25.3% of woman preferring suffocation as their ideal form of attempting and completing a suicide while 26.1% of men prefer suffocation. The final category, the other category, includes but is not limited to overdosing, slitting of the wrists, drowning, hanging, and other forms of self-harm resulting in a completed suicide. In this category, only 9.6% of women prefer it for their desired form of attempting and completing a suicide while even fewer men, only 7.8%, prefer it.
There is probable justification for why the rates switch with age. During the younger adult years, the ages of 15 to 24, women are more likely to attempt a suicide and complete a suicide than their male counterpart. The reasoning and rationale behind this is because it is during those year when the media, stresses from family, academics, and peer pressure all weigh heavy on the mind of the young female adult. They are constantly being told how to look, what to wear, how to act, and what to do, to name a few. This takes a huge tole on the mental state and the mental health of the female individual even more so than is does to their male counterpart, and increases their chance of suicidal ideation and their chance to attempt, and complete, a suicide. However, during the ages of 25 to 34 it is the male adult who has a higher mortality rate than their female counterpart. During these years, those same stressors negatively impacting women now weigh heavy on the mental state of the male adult, therefore increasing their rate to being higher than that of their female counterpart for suicidal ideation, attempts at suicide, and suicide completions.
There is also credible reasoning and rationale behind the methodology for how each gender attempts and completes a suicide, and justification for why the results in each category are not the same. Males far prefer the usage of firearms in their attempts and completions of a suicide compared to their female counterpart; the reasoning behind this is because men are not deterred away from the usage of firearms even though it will bring attention to what they are doing and leave a mess behind. Research shows women do not want to burden others with the act of an attempt or completion of suicide by making a noise or leaving a mess behind. When comparing males to females for poisoning, men far less prefer it to women; this is because it is a quiet way to attempt a suicide or complete a suicide, not leaving a mess behind in the process. While comparing males and females in the suffocation category, the numbers are approximately equal; this is a form in which pain is still felt, and the individual knowingly decides to feel their pain as he or she attempts a suicide or completes a suicide. The last category, the other category, is also almost the same when comparing males to females; this category covers the remaining forms of attempting and completing a suicide. However, even with the statistics easily accessible to the public, the media highlights more often than not the usage of firearms, intoxication and drug use for methods of suicide, therefore giving the public audiences mislead information regarding the more common methods of attempting and completing a suicide.
The federal funding for suicide definitely plays a large role in the rate of suicide which is increasing exponentially every year. The four areas in which the American Foundation For Suicide Prevention looked into and broke down regarding where the federal funding goes to area HIV/AIDS, Heart Disease, Prostate Cancer, and Suicide. In 2016, the foundation compiled the data collected over a ten-year-long survey. According to O’Brien (2016), the PR Director for the American Foundation For Suicide Prevention, ‘In the last 10 years we’ve invested federal funding to research leading causes of death like HIV/AIDS, heart disease, and prostate cancer and made major progress in their mortality rates. It’s time we do the same with suicide.’ During this ten-year time span, HIV/AIDS collected the most federal funding of $2.9 billion dollars. This funding resulted in a 53.2% decrease in the mortality rates for those who contracted HIV/AIDS. With federal funding of $1.2 billion for heart disease, there was also a decrease in the mortality rates; the results show a 29.1% drop in the deaths of those with a heart disease. Although a significantly smaller amount of funding, with the $266 million dollar in federal funding, prostate cancer’s mortality rate dropped 13.7%. Compare those findings to suicide; in this same ten-year time span, suicide research received $37 million in federal funding. According to the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention’s vice-president, Jill Harkavy-Friedman, ‘Research in the field of suicide and mental health is absolutely vital. We need to better understand suicide and learn which suicide prevention strategies work so we can put them into practice'[and] along with the investment by the federal government, have the potential to develop new and better tools to fight suicide’ With such little funding from the federal government, the rates increased in mortality rates; the increase was higher than the decrease in prostate cancer. The rates went up by 20.4% due to the massive lack in funding, therefore leading to little progress being made in the research to help reduce the mortality rates. When a medical realm is ignored by the federal government and gets next to no federal funding, there is no denying that the illness will worsen and mortality rates will continue to rise with each year.
The Netflix original show titled ’13 Reasons Why’ is a large contributor to the more recent discussions and attention brought to suicide and suicidal ideation. Any who know much about the show are on either side of an ongoing, and extremely overlooked and over-stigmatized, controversial debate; there are those in favor, and those completely opposed to the show continuing and what it stands for. For the side advocating the show, the viewing audiences applaud the show for bringing awareness to and shining a light on raising awareness about the tragedy of youth suicide and further shedding a light on how to be aware and spot the warning signs and symptoms of depression and/or suicidal thoughts. As for the opposition, many fear the outcome of such a show will result in less federal funding and an exponential increase in suicide rates. Mental health experts describe the show as worrisome, highlighting the negative aspects but portraying those aspects through rose colored glasses. These experts fear the show points to how its relatable through the characters and graphic depiction of suicide without any regard to the influence it may have on its viewing audiences; it can cause for a health risk in young people who have a dormant or underlying mental health problem, while increasing the health risks for those with apparent mental health problems. The creators of the show stand by the show being aired on Netflix because there were several mental health professionals on set to consult with regarding how to approach the storytelling of suicide, sexual assault, and bullying. However, researchers in the study of suicide, suicide ideation, sexual assault, bullying, and other mental health areas agree the show could have done far more to reduce associations with suicide by more closely following the guidelines and protocol thoroughly explained in the World Health Organization’s media guidelines for preventing suicide. CNN’s Jacqueline Howard spoke with John Ayers, a research professor at San Diego University and lead author of the paper on the surge in suicide after the release of ’13 Reasons Why,’ stating ‘Psychiatrists have expressed grave concerns because the show ignores the World Health Organization's validated media guidelines for preventing suicide. The show's staff instead continue to prefer their gut instincts’The show's makers must swiftly change their course of action, including removing the show and postponing a second season.’
The show led to a Google search survey to collect data relating to the show and proving correlation between it and suicide. Following premiere, searches in the Google browser using terms relating to suicide awareness and suicide prevention increased a noticeable enough amount, but there was an even larger increase in the searches with terms related to and associated with suicidal ideation. According to CNN’s Jacqueline Howard (2017), ‘After the premiere of "13 Reasons Why," the search phrase "how to commit suicide" rose 26% above what would normally have been expected for that time; "suicide prevention" went up 23%; and "suicide hotline number" climbed 21%.’ CNN’s Jacqueline Howard (2017) found that ‘suicide-related searches were 15% higher on April 15 [2017] and then 44% higher on April 18 [2017], the researchers found.’ It cannot be argued against that the show brought attention to suicide, however the worst-fears were confirmed when the rates increased in correlation to the show, with thousands and thousands of more people searching ‘how to commit suicide’ and further acting, and completing, the findings from those searches. The show led to a surge in suicide searches, increasing over a 19-day period which initially represented a total of about 900,000 searches relating to suicide and suicidal ideation; it increased by 1.5 million more searches than the starting point for that expected time by the end of that 19-day period.
1-800-273-8255: Those numbers are life changing; they are the numbers to the National Suicide Prevention’s Lifeline; they are also the title of rapper Logic’s most successful song. CNN’s Ben Tinker found a tweet from Logic (2017) where he tweeted ‘I made this song for all of you who are in a dark place and can’t seem to find the light.’ This song is sung through the perspectives of both individuals on the phone during a call to the National Suicide Prevention Hotline, with the first verse being the individual who has given up on their life and is ready to end it with descriptions and reasoning as to why which they give to the suicide hotline crisis worker. The chorus continues with this mentality. The next verse is his realization that he does want to be alive, but he is just unsure what the point is still. A later verse the suicide hotline crisis worker helping talk the individual down, and the song ends with the decision to keep going. The last verse discusses how living in the suicidal mental state feels like a long road that is traveled alone, but you cannot give up and must keep fighting because every life has low points but those are only temporary. John Draper (2017), the Director of the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline, states ‘Logic is generating calls with a song about getting help and finding hope. It's not focusing on tragedy or suicide. In fact, he's starting conversations about suicide prevention, as opposed to suicide.’ The author of the article, Ben Tinker (2017) continues by saying ‘The message: It gets better. It always gets better.’ Many portrayals and discussions about suicide are not about suicide prevention, but rather just about suicide, and therefore these are not discussions but rather debates. The rapper believes this song to be the most important he has ever written; Logic’s song titled 1-800-273-8255 represents a discussion that provides hopes and strength when living through the darkest time in an individual’s life, with the determination to persevere. The day this track was released led to the second-highest daily call volume on record for the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at the time with over 4,573 calls. When the rapper performed his hit single at the MTV Video Music Awards on August 27 of 2017, he and every individual on stage with him wore shirts with the Lifeline’s phone number boldly and clearly printed on them; on stage with him were suicide survivors. The following day was the highest daily call volume for the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline with over five-thousand calls; call volume has remained at a higher daily amount since the release of this song. Searches for the Lifeline’s phone number, other crisis centers, and help for suicidal ideations spiked over 100% immediately after the song debuted.
There are other artists out there who have addressed the suicidal mindset, as well, and one of those other acts is the band known as Imagine Dragons. The lead singer, Dan Reynolds (2017), recently opened up about their hit single ‘Believer,’ expressing it is a piece that ‘illustrates a deep personal struggle with depression.’ In their prior albums, the lead singer/songwriter wrote about the highs and lows of living with depression and suicidal ideation, as well as forms of attempting as seen in their song ‘Friction,’ a song about a severe drug addiction and how it takes more than just the words of encouragement from others to prevail. After a year-long break, the band returned with their third studio album titled ‘Evolve’ with their first single ‘Believer’ which attacks depression head-on. According to Reynolds (2017), ‘It's about finally finding gratitude in my flaws, and my weakness, it has finally given me freedom. It's made me a believer in myself’ and now to be able to be doing it in a way that's very honest and raw and vulnerable, and even to share it sometimes with you know, what could be millions of people, I've found comfort in that, rather than fear.’ The story behind the lyrics written for their songs is a form of therapy for the lead singer in battling his own depression and suicidal ideation, and he discovered by sharing it with the general population, others are also able to find comfort in knowing they are not alone.
The correlation between the media and suicide increase in mortality by the method of suicide does not stop on television; social media plays a large role as well. According to data collected by the Center for Disease Control and Prevention, between the years of 2010 and 2015, suicide rates began to rise enough to cause concern after declining for the two decades before. Teenagers who spend hours of their day scrolling through their Facebook feed, looking at pictures on Instagram, and other social media platforms expose themselves to social media posts depicting only the ‘perfect’ aspects of life; there is direct correlation to spending so much time absorbing the ‘perfect’ characteristics of life and mental health along with what the toll is that exposing oneself to this does. Social media users tend to avoid posting negative statuses or images that depict them as being ‘only human’ when posting online for other viewers to see; the social media users want to show how ideal their life is in that moment, in that post, in that picture. By spending so much time on social media pages, and therefore subconsciously absorbing that the other social media users have the perfect and ideal life while the individual viewing them does not, negatively impacts the mental health of that individual. This has often led to the onset of depression and even led to the attempt and completions of many suicides in teenagers across the United States of America.
Social media has more than one correlation with suicide; the other is commonly known as cyberbullying. Cyberbullying has become a normality in the society today; it is much easier to bully another person when sitting behind a computer, a laptop, an iPad or tablet, or a smartphone than it is to bully them face-to-face. But cyberbullying does not stop with the individual bullying and the individual being bullied; sometimes cyberbullying takes place in a private message, but far too often is takes place in a status or wall post on Facebook, and when others see it happening, they decide to cyberbully in the comments section. Cyberbullying has become a serious problem in the mental health world and has also contributed to the increase in suicidal ideation, attempts for suicide, and suicide completions.
A survey was conducted to further breakdown the usage of social media and electronic devices and its correlation to suicide. In 2009 teens using electronic devices was at 9% and more than doubled by 2015 with 19% teens using electronic devices. This increased the risk of suicidal thoughts and suicidal actions in teens to 70% compared to those who only used electronic devices for one hour each day. In 2009 only 32% of teens felt the emotions of feeling alone, depressed, sad, and/or hopeless but by 2015 the number has increased to 36% for all teens. This was further broken down to look at the negative implications on females; in 2009 girls using electronic devices with those negative emotions was at 40% but by 2015 it had increased to 45%. Medical and mental health professionals fear that this generation will be the generation with the worst mental health in decades leading to severe mental health crisis among the individuals.
Aside from television shows, music, and social media, there are still more correlations between forms of entertainment and suicidal ideation, attempting suicide, and the completion of a suicide; another component is video gaming. Video gaming has been found to have a direct correlation with suicide. This is because those who play violent or action video games tend to become desensitized to the concept of death, and this further contributes to an increased chance of not fearing one’s own death; as a result, many who play these video games have become more susceptible to the concept of attempting and completing a suicide, as well as acting on those thoughts due to a reduced fear in death and a higher tolerance for physical pain when compared to those who do not play these violent or action-packed video games. When a survey studying college student was conducted to find the correlation and further prove the connection between playing these video games and suicide, the results proved statistically factual in that those who gravitate towards the more violent and action-packed video games tend to attempt and complete their own suicide using methods they have been exposed to in the video game.
Suicide is a form of self-harm with different mentalities behind it depending on the age and gender of the individual, requires federal funding, and can be seen throughout the media and entertainment industry, therefore resulting in an increase in suicide mortality. The pressures society places on young adults has greatly contributed to the increase in suicide fatalities. Without more funding from the federal government, rates will continue to rise annually, resulting in more generations of mental-health crises. Media is something inescapable but with better monitoring, the impacts it has on the mental health of young adults can be decreased. Suicide rates continue to rise as the blind eye remains present.