Middle-Aged Suicide on the Rise: What Are the Top Risk Factors?

“A man holds his hands over his face in front of trees at sunset” by Francisco Moreno on Unsplash

The suicides of fashion designer Kate Spade and chef Anthony Bourdain highlight the importance of paying attention to rising suicide rates. In the United States, the most dramatic increases in suicide deaths have been amongst the middle-aged.

The total suicide rate in the U.S. in 2016 was 13.5 per 100,000 people, up from 10.4 in 2000. (For comparison, the suicide rate in Canada, as of data published in 2015, was 11.3 per 100,000.)

Among the 45–64 age group, suicide rates rose from 6.2 per 100,000 in 2000 to 9.9 in 2016 for women, and from 21.3 per 100,000 in 2000 to 29.1 in 2016 for men. Suicide rates also rose in the 25–44 age group for both genders. For more information, read the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s June 2018 suicide rates document.

What are the factors leading to this increase in suicide rate, specifically among American middle-aged individuals?

Samantha Boardman, a clinical instructor in medicine and psychiatry at Weill Cornell Medical College in New York City told The Wall Street Journal that “Life satisfaction hits an all-time low in middle age,” and rates of depression are very high in this age group. Feelings common to the middle-aged include despair, lack of control, and a general sense of overwhelm. Newly-declining health can…