National Suicide Prevention Week: Get the facts

Suicide can affect anyone of any age, and those who have lost someone in this manner sometimes take years to get past the psychological trauma. During the second week of September, National Suicide Prevention Week, we take a look at how suicide has impacted people in the United States.

SEE ALSO: Suicide and Hispanic teens: What you need to know

The death of comedian Robin Williams has made this National Suicide Prevention Week a prominent one for many individuals, even those who have never had suicide affect them on a personal level. That someone so seemingly happy and carefree as Robin Williams could have turn to suicide has made people around the world reevaluate what they know about this unfortunate choice.

Facts for National Suicide Prevention Week

Because the exact reasons behind suicide are specific to the individual, it is difficult to delve too deep into why people decide to end their lives. Depression and other mental health issues are often linked to suicidal thoughts and attempts but some instances of suicide have no traceable cause-effect pattern.

Here are the most recent facts about suicide:

• The World Health Organization indicates there are 800,000 suicide deaths globally every year.
• 30 percent of global suicides are from consuming pesticides.
• Men aged 50 and over are the group with the highest suicide risk.
• More men commit suicide annually than do women.
• Every 40 seconds, a suicide is committed somewhere and India along with Nepal, Indonesia and North Korea. These regions account for one-third of the global total.
• Despite high rates of suicide in the above regions, the incident number are actually down from the year 2000.
• 75 percent of suicides occur in low- to mid-income countries.
• Women over 70 years of age are more than twice as likely to die by suicide than women aged between 15 and 29 years.
• Suicide is the second leading cause of death globally in people between the ages of 15 and 29.
• Only 28 countries are known to have national suicide prevention strategies.
• In the United States, minority individuals have the highest suicide rates.
• Wyoming and Alaska have the highest suicide rates out of all the states, according to the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention.
• Suicide is estimated to cost the United States $34 billion annually.
• New research explains more people commit suicide during sunny days because more sunlight exposure means lower serotonin-transporter binding in the brain, a decrease that encourages impulsiveness.

How can you recognize when someone is at-risk for suicide?

The American Foundation for Suicidology indicates the following way to identify when someone is at-risk for committing suicide:

IS PATH WARM?

I  Ideation

S  Substance Abuse

P  Purposelessness

A  Anxiety

T  Trapped

H  Hopelessness

W  Withdrawal

A  Anger

R  Recklessness

M  Mood Changes

Additional warning signs include:

• Increased substance (alcohol or drug) use
• No reason for living; no sense of purpose in life
• Anxiety, agitation, unable to sleep or sleeping all of the time
• Feeling trapped – like there’s no way out
• Hopelessness
• Withdrawal from friends, family and society
• Rage, uncontrolled anger, seeking revenge
• Acting reckless or engaging in risky activities, seemingly without thinking
• Dramatic mood changes

SEE ALSO: Robin Williams had Parkinson’s disease according to widow