Facts About Adult Suicide
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Notice: The Office of Suicide Prevention website is informational and not intended as a crisis response or hotline.
Suicide Facts
- In 2017, over 47,000 people in the United States died by suicide. About every 11 minutes someone in this country intentionally ends his or her life; it is estimated that an attempt is made about every 27 seconds.
- Suicide was the tenth leading cause of death in the U.S. in 2017; homicide ranked 16th. Over twice as many people die by suicide than homicide in the United States.
- In 2017, suicide was the 10th leading cause of death in the United States, but was the 8th leading cause of death for Nevadans.
- Nevada ranked #1 for over a decade prior to 2000. In 2017, Nevada ranked 11th in the United States.
- Suicide is the 2nd leading cause of death for Nevadans ages 10-34 year.
- Each suicide leaves at least six bereaved family members and friends. Thus there were over 283,000 loss survivors in 2017.
- For every teen and young adult who dies by suicide, it is estimated 100-200 teens have attempted.
- Survivors of suicide are at a higher risk for suicide than the general public.
- Many suicides are preventable.
- Prevention is often a matter of a caring person with the right knowledge being available in the right place at the right time.