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tyresiasWhat follows is a discussion on suicide rates with some look into age, gender, race, mental illness, class, and so forth. Recognizing this is a sensitive topic I have put the content behind a cut. I also recognize statistics are just that, flawed and problematic but they can also serve as a good spring board for discussion.
Myth: Talking about suicide will give a young person the idea, or permission, to consider suicide
as a solution to their problems.
Reality: Talking calmly about suicide, without showing fear or making judgments, can bring relief to someone who is feeling terribly isolated. A willingness to listen shows sincere concern; encouraging someone to speak about their suicidal feelings can reduce the risk of an attempt.
One source is the Canadian Mental Health Association:
http://www.ontario.cmha.ca/content/about_mental_illness/suicide.asp?cID=3965 There'salsohttp://www.outproud.org/article_suicide.html (an American source)
Another is the Canadian Children's Rights Council
http://www.canadiancrc.com/Youth_Suicide_in_Canada.htm The random numbers are for the footnotes found on the sites. I choose to highlight portions I thought were particularly poignant. I recognize my bias in the information I selected for this entry.
The suicide rate for Canadians, as measured by the WHO, is 15 per 100,000 people. Yet, according to numerous studies, rates are even higher among specific groups. For example, the suicide rate for Inuit peoples living in Northern Canada is between 60 and 75 per 100,000 people, significantly higher than the general population.2 Other populations at an increased risk of suicide include youth, the elderly, inmates in correctional facilities, people with a mental illness, and those who have previously attempted suicide.3 According to Statistics Canada, between 1997 and 1999, there was a 10 percent increase in suicides across Canada, from 3,681 to 4,074. In Ontario alone, suicides rose from 930 in 1997 to 1,032 in 2001.
Gender
Men commit suicide at a rate four times higher than that of women. According to a report by the Canadian Institute for Health Information (CIHI), more men in Ontario committed suicide in the past 10 years than died in car crashes.4 Approximately 591 men committed suicide in Ontario between 1990 and 2000, while 558 men died in car crashes. Women, however, make 3 to 4 times more suicide attempts than men do,5 and women are hospitalized in general hospitals for attempted suicide at 1.5 times the rate of men.6 Studies indicate that there is a significant correlation between a history of sexual abuse and the lifetime number of suicide attempts, and this correlation is twice as strong for women as for men.7
Age
In Canada, suicide accounts for 24 percent of all deaths among 15-24 year olds and 16 percent among 16-44 year olds. Suicide is the second leading cause of death for Canadians between the ages of 10 and 24.8 Seventy-three percent of hospital admissions for attempted suicide are for people between the ages of 15 and 44. Each year, on average, 294 youths die from suicide. Many more attempt suicide. Aboriginal teens and gay and lesbian teens may be at particularly high risk, depending on the community they live in and their own self esteem. Children from single-mothers households (compared to children of two parent households) are five times more likely to commit suicide.
Queer and Transgender: In 1989, the United States Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) issued its "Report on the Secretary's Task Force on Youth Suicide," which found that "A majority of suicide attempts by homosexuals occur during their youth, and gay youth are 2 to 3 times more likely to attempt suicide than other young people. They may comprise up to 30 percent of (the estimated 5,000) completed youth suicides annually. (5) According to Kevin Berrill, Director of the Anti-Violence Project of the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force at the time of the report,s release stated, "The increased risk of suicide facing these youth is linked to growing up in a society that teaches them to hide and to hate themselves. We welcome this report and hope it will lead to action that will save lives."Initially, however, the report was suppressed by the Bush administration under pressure from right-wing groups and by conservatives in Congress. After the findings, William Dannemeyer, who was at the time a conservative Republican member of the U.S. House of Representatives from California, called for then-president Bush to "dismiss from public service all persons still employed who concocted this homosexual pledge of allegiance and sealed the lid on these misjudgments for good." HHS Secretary Louis Sullivan wrote in a letter to Dannemeyer that the study "undermined the institution of the family." (6) Remafedi confirmed a 30% suicide rate among gay and bisexual youth, and also found that young men with more "feminine gender role characteristics" and those who recognized their same-sex orientation at an early age and acted on those sexual feelings seem to face the highest risk of self-destructive behavior. Issues of race and gender identity also impact suicide. Thirty-six percent of African-American lesbians compared to 21 percent of white lesbians, and 32 percent of African-American gay males compared to 27 percent of white gay males attempted suicide before age 18. (12) Transsexuals may be at higher risk than homosexuals and much higher risk than the general population to suicidal behavior. (13) Fifty-three percent of transsexuals surveyed had made suicide attempts. (14)
Suicide and Mental Illness
People with mood disorders are at a particularly high risk of suicide.9 Studies indicate that more than 90 percent of suicide victims have a diagnosable psychiatric illness,10 and suicide is the most common cause of death for people with schizophrenia.11 Both major depression and bipolar disorder account for 15 to 25 percent of all deaths by suicide in patients with severe mood disorders.12 According to Toronto Metro Police Mental Health Act data, the number of documented suicide attempts rose 14 percent from 1996 to 2001. Statistics Canada reports that suicide is the eleventh leading cause of death in Canada.13
Homelessness
People with serious mental illness are disproportionately affected by homelessness. Between 30 and 35 percent of the homeless in general, and up to 75 percent of homeless women specifically, have a mental illness.
