‘We Would Never Tolerate This In Other Areas Of Public Health’: Spiking Suicide Rates An Indictment Of Mental Health System
Kate Spade and Anthony Bourdain's deaths came just days before the CDC released startling statistics about the rate of suicide in the country. Experts are left trying to figure out what has gone wrong.
The New York Times:
How Suicide Quietly Morphed Into A Public Health Crisis
The deaths of the designer Kate Spade and the chef Anthony Bourdain, both of whom committed suicide this week, were not simply pop culture tragedies. They were the latest markers of an intractable public health crisis that has been unfolding in slow motion for a generation. Treatment for chronic depression and anxiety — often the precursors to suicide — has never been more available and more widespread. Yet the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention this week reported a steady, stubborn rise in the national suicide rate, up 25 percent since 1999. (Carey, 6/8)
The New York Times:
Can One Suicide Lead To Others?
The death of famed chef Anthony Bourdain, who apparently killed himself in a hotel room in France, caps a week of unnerving news about suicide. Rates are climbing across the United States, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported on Thursday — in some states, by as much as 30 percent since 1999. Prevention remains an elusive goal. Just days earlier, Americans were stunned to learn the designer Kate Spade had hanged herself in her New York apartment. (Carey, 6/8)
The New York Times:
5 Takeaways On America’s Increasing Suicide Rate
In a week when two celebrities, first the designer Kate Spade and then the chef and television host Anthony Bourdain, took their own lives, new federal data was released showing that suicide rates have been increasing for years in almost every state and across demographic lines. The escalating crisis has affected nearly every group and place, but the study from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention showed that some parts of the country have been hit especially hard. Here’s a closer look at the study and the stories behind some of the data. (Smith, 6/9)
Reuters:
Rise In U.S. Suicides Highlights Need For New Depression Drugs
A spike in suicide rates in the United States has cast fresh light on the need for more effective treatments for major depression, with researchers saying it is a tricky development area that has largely been abandoned by big pharmaceutical companies. U.S. health authorities said on Thursday that there had been a sharp rise in suicide rates across the country since the beginning of the century and called for a comprehensive approach to addressing depression. The report was issued the same week as the high-profile suicides of celebrities Anthony Bourdain and Kate Spade. (Steenhuysen, 6/9)