Suicide rate fell slightly last year

The U.S. suicide rate inched lower last year for the first time in more than a decade, according to new preliminary data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

The decrease was small but promising, Dr. Christine Moutier, chief medical officer of the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention, said.

“Preliminary 2019 suicide rate data finds the rate declining for the first time since 1999,” she said in a Twitter post. “Need to continue to monitor for final CDC data but I am encouraged by this news. Still much work to do & note this is pre-COVID.”

According to the new numbers, the suicide death rate dropped to 13.9 per 100,000 people last year, The Associated Press reported.

That’s down from a rate of 14.2 per 100,000 people in 2018.

It’s not yet clear how the COVID-19 pandemic has affected the rate for 2020. It appears to have exacerbated some of the risk factors, according to CDC data released in August.

“Elevated levels of adverse mental health conditions, substance use and suicidal ideation were reported by adults in the United States in June 2020,” the CDC reported.

Officials said symptoms of anxiety disorder were approximately three times higher than in the second quarter of 2019 – 25.5% versus 8.1% – and the prevalence of depressive disorder was approximately four times that reported in the second quarter of 2019 – 24.3% versus 6.5%.

Approximately twice as many respondents reported serious consideration of suicide in the previous 30 days when compared with U.S. adults in the previous 12 months – 10.7% versus 4.3% – the CDC reported.

“There are clear forces pressing suicide risk factors in a negative direction,” Moutier told the AP, but that doesn’t necessarily mean the rate for 2020 will show an increase.

She said some pandemic “silver linings” might actually have a mitigating effect, such as the destigmatization of mental health concerns.