A report released this week showed and unprecedented increase in suicide rates for individuals in the 45 through 54 age range. The increase in incidences far outpaced the teenage suicide rates.
Fox News reports that Researchers looked at death certificate information for 1999 through 2004. Overall, they found a 5.5 percent increase during that time in deaths from homicides, suicides, traffic collisions and other incidents.
The largest increases occurred in the 45 to 54 age group. A large portion of the jump in deaths in that group was attributed to unintentional drug overdoses and poisonings - a problem the CDC reported previously.
But suicides were another major factor, accounting for a quarter of the injury deaths in that age group. The suicide count jumped from 5,081 to 6,906 in that time.
In contrast, the suicide rate for people in their 20s - the other age group with the most dramatic increase in injury deaths - rose only 1 percent.
Most of the government education programs concerning suicide focus on teenagers. The middle age group tends to go overlooked.
I think this is just evidence of the pressures of society. This is the age group that has children going off to college or into the real world. They should be at the prime in their life, but with financial challenges might find life difficult.
It is hard when your kids are gone finding reason for who you are, but to add being the old guy at work can sometimes be detrimental.
Notice too that alcohol and drug use played some in this increase. My sister-in-law's dad committed suicide during this age. He was always feeling too much pressure at his work, depression and too much stress.
I think sometimes we assume if a person is an adult, they will get the help they need. Unfortunately, as an adult, we are more likely to hide the troubles we are going through. We may have grown accustomed to a certain type of lifestyle and because of financial cutbacks in companies, households, etc., we may begin to struggle financially or with depression. Before long we are using alcohol to ease the pain and things begin to get out of control. A lot of times it is at this point that we feel too embarrassed to ask for help. It is sad that our society is such that asking for help is considered showing a weakness.
Please call 1-800-Suicide if you need help in any way. Remember suicide is a permanent solution to a temporary problem. Don't make that mistake.
