Suicide rates increase among the young age group
Over one million people die by suicide worldwide each year. The global suicide rate is 16 per 100,000 population. On average, one person dies by suicide every 40 seconds somewhere in the world. Global suicide rates have increased 60% in the past 45 years.
Poor and middle-income countries rank the worst in the study, in fact 75% of global suicide occurred in low- and middle-income countries. But some developed nations are worse than others--rates in Britain and Germany worse than much of Europe and Australia.
The suicide rate in the United States has jumped 24 percent in the past 15 years, including a troublesome spike among girls aged 10-14, according to recent US government statistics.
The biggest jump was among girls aged 10–14, whose suicide rate tripled from 0.5 per 100,000 people in 1999 to 1.5 per 100,000 in 2014.
“We are seeing younger and younger kids dying by suicide,” said Victor Fornari, director of the division of child and adolescent psychiatry at Zucker Hillside Hospital in Glen Oaks, New York.
This is “really a worry,” added Fornari, who was not involved in the study.
“I think it may be a reflection of access to social media, Internet and cyber bullying, and youth are hurried. They are being exposed to things sooner than they would have been."
In the 15 to 29-year age group, suicide is the second leading cause of death globally.
'No matter where a country currently stands in suicide prevention, effective measures can be taken, even just starting at local level and on a small scale,' said Alexandra Fleischmann, a scientist at the WHO's department of mental health and substance abuse. Other preventative measures include encouraging responsible reporting of suicide in the media, such as avoiding language that sensationalizes suicide.
