- 47,173 Americans died of suicide in 2017, making it the 10th leading cause of death in the US.^[American Association of Suicidology. “Facts and Statistics.” Accessed September 6, 2019. https://suicidology.org/facts-and-statistics/.]
- There were twice as many suicides as there were homicides in the US in 2017.^[National Institute of Mental Health. “Suicide Statistics.” Accessed September 6, 2019, https://www.nimh.nih.gov/health/statistics/suicide.shtml.]
- Suicide was the second leading cause of death for people ages 10-34 in the US in 2017.^[Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. “10 Leading Causes of Death, United States.” Accessed September 6, 2019. https://webappa.cdc.gov/cgi-bin/broker.exe]
- On average, 1 person dies by suicide every 11 minutes in the US.^[American Association of Suicidology. “Facts and Statistics.” Accessed September 6, 2019. https://suicidology.org/facts-and-statistics/.]
- About 50% of people in the US know someone who has died by suicide in their lifetime. ^[William Feigelman, et al. “Suicide Exposures and Bereavement Among American Adults.” Journal of Effective Disorders. Accessed September 6, 2019. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0165032717311631?via%3Dihub.]
- 10.5% of adults in the US 18-25 years old had serious suicidal thoughts in 2017.^[National Institute of Mental Health. “Suicide Statistics.” Accessed September 6, 2019, https://www.nimh.nih.gov/health/statistics/suicide.shtml.]
- Lesbian, gay, bisexual, and questioning youth are almost 5 times more likely to attempt suicide. ^[The Trevor Project. “Facts About Suicide.” Accessed September 6, 2019. https://www.thetrevorproject.org/resources/preventing-suicide/facts-about-suicide/.]
- In a national study, 40% of transgender adults reported having made a suicide attempt. 92% of these individuals reported having attempted suicide before the age of 25.^[The Trevor Project. “Facts About Suicide.” Accessed September 6, 2019. https://www.thetrevorproject.org/resources/preventing-suicide/facts-about-suicide/.]
- Women are 3 times more likely than men to attempt suicide, and men are 3.5 times more likely to have a fatal outcome when attempting suicide.^[American Association of Suicidology. “Facts and Statistics.” Accessed September 6, 2019. https://suicidology.org/facts-and-statistics/.]
- 79% of global suicides occur in low- and middle-income countries.^[World Health Organization. “Suicide: Key Facts.” Accessed September 6, 2019. https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/suicide.]
- Firearms accounted for 23,854 suicides in the US in 2017 — that’s about half of all suicide deaths.^[American Association of Suicidology. “Facts and Statistics.” Accessed September 6, 2019. https://suicidology.org/facts-and-statistics/.]
Additional Resources
Crisis Text Line: text HOME to 741741 to connect with a crisis counselor 24/7
Trevor Project: 24/7 LGBTQ+ crisis intervention and suicide prevention hotline at 1-866-488-7386
Trans Lifeline: peer support hotline run by and for trans people at 877-565-8860
To Write Love on Her Arms: to find local resources in your area