Why are Americans killing themselves at an alarming rate?

Suicide rates are alarmingly increasing in the US, in almost every state, reveals a new report published by the Federal Health. In fact, the rates have gone up by 30 percent across the nation since 1999. With suicide being a major public health issue across the nation, the new findings have revealed that nearly 45,000 people killed themselves in 2016.

The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) and Prevention in Atlanta have made an in-depth analysis of the suicide rates from 1999 to 2016. Though depression is known to be the main cause of higher suicide rate, only half of the people had a history of mental illness. The numbers have sent shockwaves across the nation.

However, Dr Jack Rozel, medical director of the Allegheny crisis services facility in Pittsburgh and president-elect of the American Association for Emergency Psychiatry, pointed out to NBC News that the trend is due to the difficulty in getting proper mental health care. Usually, it takes days to get an appointment with a psychiatrist in the country. Even after starting the treatment, it might be difficult to find the right approach as not all psychiatric methods work for everyone. The CDC also noted relationship stress, financial troubles and substance abuse as the key contributors to the troubling rates.

Four Key Outcomes from the Study

The central and northern region recorded the highest rise in suicide rate with North Dakota seeing a 57.6 percent increase since 1999. While Nevada is the only state with no increase.

The largest number of suicides happened among middle-aged adults and the research points out an alarmingly increase in these numbers further. The recent case of celebrity designer Kate Spade, who has been fighting with mental illness for years, is a well-known example.

Unfortunately, there is a rapid increase in the suicide rates among all age groups, ethnicities, genders and urbanisation levels. Only people aged above 75 are exempted from the list.

Firearms are the most common method of suicide overall with 48.5 percent and among them more than 55 percent had no known mental condition.

The CDC team policy advises easing out unemployment and housing stress, making healthcare more accessible, offering free community program on mental health and providing relationship counselling at school levels to bring down the alarming numbers.