Suicide, the Endless Why?
Two days ago I learned that another friend had committed suicide – this on the heels of two other friends’ suicides in February. Here again, I experienced a shock and a why – though, I suspected what the precipitating circumstances were in this case, and I was correct – love, relationship and loss – more complicated than this.
During the night and the next day I found my mind and heart circling the big WHY? of suicide and the sadness that seems natural when life ends too early and too tragically.
According to the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) nn 2007, suicide was the tenth leading cause of death in the U.S., accounting for 34,598 deaths. The overall rate was 11.3 suicide deaths per 100,000 people. An estimated 11 attempted suicides occur per every suicide death.
Almost four times as many males as females die by suicide. I wonder if that is because so many men are more estranged from their feelings than women.
As I look at the 2007 figures for suicides involving young people, I now remember that last May, a friend of mine was distraught because a close friend of hers daughter was believed to have committed suicide by jumping off a well-known bridge.
- Children ages 10 to 14 — 0.9 per 100,000
- Adolescents ages 15 to 19 — 6.9 per 100,000
- Young adults ages 20 to 24 — 12.7 per 100,000
When I think of my friend, I see her with a bright smile and a happy heart – part of what seems to fuel the endless why.
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