NEW YORK – During 2022 in the United States, around 49,500 people took their lives, in what constitutes the historical record so far, according to the most recent government statistics published this Thursday.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), which published the figuresthey have not yet calculated the suicide rate for this 2023. However, the available data suggest that in the United States suicides are now more common than they have been since World War II, he said Associated Press.
Specialists on the subject say that addressing the issue of suicide is complicated. The rise in numbers, they believe, could be due to a mix of factors, including everything from higher rates of depression to limited access to mental health services.
But a main factor is the increasing availability of guns, said Jill Harkavy-Friedman, senior vice president of research at the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention.
Suicide attempts with firearms end in death much more frequently than those with other means, and gun sales have skyrocketed, placing firearms in more and more homes, the leader stressed.
According to studies conducted by the CDC released weeks ago, suicide reflects a major public health crisis across the country. Suicide rates among Hispanics increased by 38% between 2013 and 2020.
These data were framed with the launch of the service in Spanish of the Line 988, formerly known as the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline, which was established in 2005 although it only provided service in English. Since last July, the service has been expanded to cover the Hispanic community from more than 200 centers in the country.
