April 13, 2023 – During the primary full 12 months of the pandemic, the suicide rate within the United States rose greater than in some other 12 months within the previous 20 years, a new analysis from the CDC shows.
The suicide rate in 2021 was 14.1 per 100,000 people, a 4.1% increase over the suicide rate in 2020. After looking back to 2001, when the national suicide rate was 10.7 per 100,000, CDC researchers found that there had never been such a big increase in a single 12 months before.
In 2021, there have been 48,183 suicides within the United States, most of them amongst men. Specifically, there have been 38,358 suicides amongst men and 9,825 suicides amongst women. This gender gap has remained constant over the past 20 years, with the suicide rate amongst men being 3 to 4.5 times higher than amongst women.
Between 2020 and 2021, there was no significant increase in suicide rates amongst women, aside from women ages 75 and older, the researchers found. (Recently, studies showing that teenage girls have high rates of suicidal ideation — or thoughts of suicide — prompted the CDC to declare that teenage girls are “in crisis.”)
While the suicide rate amongst women overall increased barely from 2020 to 2021, this increase didn't show what statisticians call “significant” changes – a measure of reliability. From 2020 to 2021, the suicide rate amongst 10- to 14-year-old girls increased from 2.0 to 2.3 deaths per 100,000 girls, and from 5.8 to six.1 deaths per 100,000 women and girls amongst 15- to 24-year-olds.
CDC researchers found that the general increase in suicides in 2021 reversed a decline within the suicide rate that had been ongoing since 2018. It will not be possible to discover any single a part of the pandemic because the cause, a CDC expert said.
“As we have seen in other health emergencies, anxiety, depression, substance abuse, and suicidal thoughts and behaviors can increase, and all of these contribute to suicide risk,” said Deb Stone, ScD, a behavioral scientist on the CDC Injury Center The Washington Times“In addition, suicide rates could remain stable or even decline during a disaster, but then rise again afterwards as a longer-term consequence of the COVID-19 pandemic, particularly among populations struggling with pre-existing inequalities.”
If you understand someone in crisis, call or text the suicide and crisis hotline at 988contact the Crisis Text Line by texting “HOME” to 741741 or dial 911.