The effects of suicide

A number of high-profile suicides have made national news the past few months. But for every high-profile case, there are dozens, hundreds even, of cases nationwide. Below are some statistics from suicide.org, based on what happened in 2007. There were no numbers collected for those in the GLBTQ community.

• One person killed him/herself every 15 minutes in the U.S.

• Suicide is the 11th leading cause of death in the U.S., and the third among young people.

• For every death, there are approximately 25 attempts.

• Women are three times as likely to attempt suicide than men, but for every female death there are 3.6 male deaths related to suicide.

• Of the 34,598 suicides in 2007, 4,140 were between the ages of 15 and 24.

• Of the suicides in 2007, 31,348 of them were white.

• Each suicide intimately affects at least six people. Based on stats from 1983 to 2007, that means there are about 4.6 million survivors of suicide in the United States (1 in 65 adults).