US suicides hit an all-time high last year
apnews.com
apnews.com
government has no incentive to fix it though, they'd rather have citizens kill themselves or be strung out on drugs rather than angry at their government
"U.S. suicides steadily rose from the early 2000s until 2018, when the national rate hit its highest level since 1941. That year saw about 48,300 suicide deaths — or 14.2 for every 100,000 Americans.
The rate fell slightly in 2019. It dropped again in 2020, during the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic. Some experts tied that to a phenomenon seen in the early stages of wars and natural disasters, when people pull together and support each other.
But in 2021, suicides rose 4%. Last year, according to the new data, the number jumped by more than 1,000, to 49,449 — about a 3% increase vs. the year before. The provisional data comes from U.S. death certificates and is considered almost complete, but it may change slightly as death information is reviewed in the months ahead.
The largest increases were seen in older adults. Deaths rose nearly 7% in people ages 45 to 64, and more than 8% in people 65 and older. White men, in particular, have very high rates, the CDC said."
It could also be, at least in part, that Covid killed a some people that could have killed themselves.
For example, a lot of people are probably living way beyond their healthspan. In some cases, they might be living lives that involve a lot of suffering from chronic illnesses. So they are both more likely to die and less likely to mind that.
People also outlive their good economic lives quite often. A strong social safety net can reduce the difference between the number of economically good years one might live and their lifespan. But in the US, it is not great. Sometimes life in poverty just involves a lot of suffering, but also puts one at more risk of dying from Covid.
A good portion of people probably live the last decade or two of their lives outside of their healthspan or economical viability. It’s hard to find readily available data though — it has only recently become a popular topic.
Sam Harris did a podcast on lifespan and healthspan (and longevity) a couple of weeks ago. Deutsche Welle spoke about Shit Life Syndrome in their recent documentary about poverty in the UK (though its region blocked on YouTube in the UK). I think there’s a lot more interest recently in this part of our lives where we fall out of economic prosperity and health, and how it both leads to self-harm, and higher mortality.
Lifespan isn’t everything. I think we’re looking at suicide too much through the lens of lifespan reduction. Suicide might not reduce the span of a quality life much when someone has outlived their healthspan or economically viable lives. It could be purely a lifespan reduction of individuals that no longer oppose having their life spans reduced. This should be looked at — not necessarily to accept suicide trends, but also to understand them.
I heard a doctor quoting their patient a while back — “Dying does not worry me, staying alive does.” Or something along these lines, I wish I wrote it down. In short — I don’t think that patient was a very extreme example these days.