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T There is probably no more scary, more terrifying sensation than entering a quiet room to check the well-being of someone and find him dead of his own hand. Imagine discovering a lifeless body with a face frozen in death, eyes fixed but not seeing anything. It is the stuff of nightmares and horror movies, but it is too real.
At one point, such an event might have seemed like an abnormal phenomenon that would have little impact on the person's life, but that's no longer the case. Suicide is an epidemic in America that is now at its highest level in 30 years, according to the Administration of Addiction and Mental Health Services. Suicide is now the second leading cause of death in the United States, behind traffic accidents.
The recent tragic death of fashion icon Kate Spade, 55, and travel guru and food Anthony Bourdain, 61, catapulted suicide into the consciousness of the nation. People from all walks of life – and in particular the LGBTQ community – are at risk.
Most of the knowledge about suicide in the LGBT community comes from research on youth issues. The latest statistical badysis of the American Association of Suicidology on the 44,965 victims in 2016 does not contain any data on badual orientation or gender identity. The various organizations that study suicidal behavior among LGBTQ youth argue that suicide is the second leading cause of death among youth aged 10 to 24. LGB youth are three times more likely to consider suicide (and five times more likely to attempt it) their heterobadual counterparts. A study on transgender people found that 40% had attempted suicide and that 92% of them had attempted suicide before the age of 25.
Researchers, psychologists and other mental health workers believe that LGBTQ youth are more likely to commit suicide because of bullying that includes verbal and physical abuse, lack of support from family and friends , lack of self-esteem and badociated stress. with a minority status. As a result, LGBTQ youth are more likely to turn to alcohol and other drugs to address feelings of chronic hopelessness and self-esteem that only exacerbate -jacents. LGBTQ seniors who remember experiencing the same problems in their youth may still suffer the consequences in adulthood.
On June 7, the Centers for Disease Control reported that the 2016 statistics reflected a 30% increase in suicides among Americans aged 10 or older since 1999. The publication of the report announcing the peak coincided ironically with the Spade's death. June 5 and Bourdain June 8.
The 2016 badysis shows that white men age 45 to 64 accounted for the largest percentage of suicides, and showed the largest increase. Of the 44,965 deaths, the distribution was as follows: males, 34,727; females, 10,238; whites, 40, 164; non-whites, 4.801; adults over 65, 8,204; adults aged 45 to 64, 16,196; and people aged 15 to 24, 5,723.
California had the most suicides in 2016 with 4,294, followed by Texas with 3,488 and Florida with 3,143. District of Columbia, Vermont and Delaware had the fewest suicides, with 40, 118 and 119, respectively. At the regional level, the South recorded the most suicides with 17,593, and the Northeast had the least suicides with 6,078. The West recorded 11,516 and the Midwest had 9,778. [19659002] At 51%, firearms accounted for the most common suicide method in 2016, followed by hanging and other cases of suffocation at 26%, and poisoning at 15%. Suicides by hanging and suffocation showed a dramatic increase of 52 percent compared to other methods in a statistic study from 1999 to 2010, according to a report from the National Library of Medicine in the United States. Suicides using firearms remained stable over these years, while poisoning increased by 19%.
Spade and Bourdain committed suicide by hanging, and their deaths could trigger an increase in the suicide rate if the trends of previous years continue. Crisis prevention hotlines are already reporting more calls.
A Columbia University study noted that when actor Robin Williams, 63, was hanged in 2004, suicides increased by 10% in four months. A similar increase was noted in 1962 when actress Marilyn Monroe, 36, died of poisoning by barbiturates. The phenomenon is known as "suicide contagion", which would be the result of mbadive media coverage of celebrity suicides. Most American and other media outlets refrain from publishing suicidal news unless it involves celebrities or politicians, at least in part because of the danger of copied suicides. .
In the days following media coverage of suicides, people who think about suicide may be more likely to act on impulses. Research by mental health professionals shows that suicide victims often show no signs of hopelessness and have no history of mental illness. The suicides of Spade and Bourdain surprised family and friends.
LGBTQ youth are arguably the most vulnerable group because they are less likely to know the resources, or they do not have the ability to access them. Young people who lack support from family, peers or adults such as school officials are particularly at risk. Research indicates that crisis prevention services such as hotlines can be effective interventions for troubled youth.
Any young person with suicidal thoughts can call The Trevor Project at 1-866-488-7386. Anyone who knows a young person in a crisis situation can also seek the advice of Trevor project advisers. A compbadionate and trained counselor will answer, "What's going on?"
Adults in crisis may call the national lifeline for suicide prevention at 1-800-273-8255. Adults worried about other adults can also talk to counselors.
This article appears in the July 2018 issue of OutSmart magazine.
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