Suicide: Consequences

Suicide and Suicide Attempts Take an Enormous Toll on Society

• Suicide is the 10th leading cause of death among Americans.₁
• More than 44,000 people died by suicide in 2015.₁
• More than 1.4 million people reported making a suicide attempt in the past year.₂
• Almost 10 million adults reported thinking about suicide in the past year.₂
• Most people who engage in suicidal behavior never seek mental health services.₂

Costs to Society

The following estimates are based on 2015 CDC data and refer to people age 10 and over.₂

• Suicide costs society over $56.9 billion a year in combined medical and work loss costs.
• The average suicide costs $1,287,534.

Survivors

• A survivor of suicide is a family member or friend of a person who died by suicide.
• Surviving the loss of loved one to suicide is a risk factor for suicide.₃
• Surviving family members and close friends are deeply impacted by each suicide and experience a range of complex grief reactions including, guilt, anger, abandonment, denial, helplessness, and shock._4,5
• No exact figure exists, but it is estimated that a median of between 6 and 32 survivors exist for each suicide, depending on the definition used.₆
• According to another estimate, approximately 7% of the U.S. population knew someone who died by suicide during the past 12 months.₇

References

1. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Web-based Injury Statistics Query and Reporting System (WISQARS). Atlanta, GA: National Center for Injury Prevention and Control. Available at https://www.cdc.gov/injury/wisqars/leading_causes_death.html. Last updated January 2017.
2. Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, Center for Behavioral Health Statistics and Quality, National Survey on Drug Use and Health, 2014 and 2015. https://www.samhsa.gov/data/sites/default/files/NSDUH-DetTabs-2015/NSDUH-DetTabs-2015/NSDUH-DetTabs-2015.pdf.
3. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Cost of Injury Reports 2010. Available online at https://wisqars.cdc.gov:8080/costT/. Last updated January 2017.
4. Brent D. What family studies teach us about suicidal behavior: implications for research, treatment, and prevention.  Eur Psychiatry 25(5):260–263.
5. Jordan J. Is suicide bereavement different? A reassessment of the literature. Suicide and Life-Threatening Behavior. 31(1): 91–102.
6. American Association for Suicidology. Surviving after suicide factsheet. Available online: http://www.suicidology.org/Portals/14/docs/Resources/FactSheets/SurvivingAfterSuicide.pdf
7. Berman, AL. Estimating the population of survivors of suicide: Seeking an evidence base. Suicide and Life-Threatening Behavior 2011. 41(1), 110–116.
8. Crosby AE, Sacks JJ. Exposure to suicide: Incidence and association with suicidal ideation and behavior – United States, 1994. Suicide and Life-Threatening Behavior 32:321–328.