Report: U.S. suicide rates on rise

Expert: Prevention efforts can help underlying triggers

SEATTLE — Suicide rates inched up in nearly every U.S. state from 1999 through 2016, according to a new government report released Thursday.

More than half of suicides in

2015 in a subgroup of 27 states were among people with no known mental health condition, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention found. Suicide is rarely caused by any single factor, health officials said, but information from coroners’ reports suggest many of the deaths followed relationship problems, substance use and financial crises.

Prevention efforts, often focused on mental health, could be broadened to focus on people undergoing life stresses like job losses or divorces, the CDC’S Dr. Anne Schuchat said in a media briefing.

“Suicide is more than a mental health issue,” Schuchat said. “We don’t think we can just leave this to the mental health system to manage.”

Suicide is the 10th leading cause of death and one of just three leading causes that are on the rise. The others are Alzheimer’s disease and drug overdoses.

There were nearly 45,000 suicides in 2016. Middle-aged adults — ages 45 to 64 — had the largest rate increase, rising to 19.2 per 100,000 in 2016 from 13.2 per 100,000 in 1999.

The report said people without known mental health problems were more likely to die by firearms than those with known mental health problems.

Family members or friends concerned