Unfortunately, it's hard to post tables in comments, because this trend requires more nuance. Here are the first and second leading age groups by suicide rate over the last six years:
2018: 55-59, 50-54
2019: 55-59, 45-49
2020: 30-34, 25-29
2021: 25-29, 20-24
2022: 50-54, 30-34*
2023: 55-59, 35-39*
*Suicide totals for 2022 are preliminary and appear 99%+ complete; totals for 2023 are preliminary and appear 90%+ complete. They may change, but probably not radically. (Source: CDC)
Unless some radical anomaly occurs in finalizing 2023-24 numbers, suicide rates appear to be returning to middle-aged dominance. But there is another nuance. Age 30-39 may becoming a second node, for reasons unknown. For now, it appears that COVID may well have brought a spike in 20-29 suicides, not a long-term mental health trend.
Suicide is the main officially-determined form of self-destructive death, but there is another, larger one that also is self-inflicted and involves self-destructive behavior: overdose of non-prescribed drugs and of alcohol. Here is the same trend for the two leading age groups for overdose death rates:
2018: 35-39, 30-34
2019: 35-39, 30-34
2020: 35-39, 30-34
2021: 35-39, 40-44
2022: 35-39, 40-44
2023: 40-44, 35-39
Again, provisional 2022-23 figures will change when finalized, though probably not by much. The above immediate overdose deaths exclude use of legally prescribed drugs, drug suicides, and deaths from long-term drug/alcohol abuse.
There are some good indications that both the suicide and overdose rates declined among the teenage and 20-age populations but rose substantially for the 30-age, 40-age, and 50-age groups after 2021. So, we might want to hold off declaring that young ages are taking over the self-destructive categories until we have better, longer-term data.
Interestingly, the suicide rate among young adults was already rising, but did not begin to exceed those of older age groups until....*checks notes* 2020. Gee, what could possibly have happened in 2020-2021 that would have psychologically hit young people so much harder than older age groups?
Oh yeah, the pandemic. And even worse, the response to it: lockdowns, antisocial distancing, school/university closures, business closures, mask mandates, and the jabs and jab mandates. Not to mention the 24/7 fearporn news media panic. It's almost like the "cure" was...wait for it...worse than the disease. Somehow I highly doubt that Sweden had anywhere near as bad a rise in suicide rates as the USA or any other Anglosphere country. But hey, what do I know? I'm just the 800 pound guerrilla in the room.
But why would suicide fall so sharply among the middle-aged in 2020 and 2021? Pandemic lockdowns were tough on this age group as well (unemployment, loss of business income, trying to work & supervise kids doing Zoom school at the same time).
Unfortunately, it's hard to post tables in comments, because this trend requires more nuance. Here are the first and second leading age groups by suicide rate over the last six years:
2018: 55-59, 50-54
2019: 55-59, 45-49
2020: 30-34, 25-29
2021: 25-29, 20-24
2022: 50-54, 30-34*
2023: 55-59, 35-39*
*Suicide totals for 2022 are preliminary and appear 99%+ complete; totals for 2023 are preliminary and appear 90%+ complete. They may change, but probably not radically. (Source: CDC)
Unless some radical anomaly occurs in finalizing 2023-24 numbers, suicide rates appear to be returning to middle-aged dominance. But there is another nuance. Age 30-39 may becoming a second node, for reasons unknown. For now, it appears that COVID may well have brought a spike in 20-29 suicides, not a long-term mental health trend.
Suicide is the main officially-determined form of self-destructive death, but there is another, larger one that also is self-inflicted and involves self-destructive behavior: overdose of non-prescribed drugs and of alcohol. Here is the same trend for the two leading age groups for overdose death rates:
2018: 35-39, 30-34
2019: 35-39, 30-34
2020: 35-39, 30-34
2021: 35-39, 40-44
2022: 35-39, 40-44
2023: 40-44, 35-39
Again, provisional 2022-23 figures will change when finalized, though probably not by much. The above immediate overdose deaths exclude use of legally prescribed drugs, drug suicides, and deaths from long-term drug/alcohol abuse.
There are some good indications that both the suicide and overdose rates declined among the teenage and 20-age populations but rose substantially for the 30-age, 40-age, and 50-age groups after 2021. So, we might want to hold off declaring that young ages are taking over the self-destructive categories until we have better, longer-term data.
Well-said as usual, Mike.
Interestingly, the suicide rate among young adults was already rising, but did not begin to exceed those of older age groups until....*checks notes* 2020. Gee, what could possibly have happened in 2020-2021 that would have psychologically hit young people so much harder than older age groups?
Oh yeah, the pandemic. And even worse, the response to it: lockdowns, antisocial distancing, school/university closures, business closures, mask mandates, and the jabs and jab mandates. Not to mention the 24/7 fearporn news media panic. It's almost like the "cure" was...wait for it...worse than the disease. Somehow I highly doubt that Sweden had anywhere near as bad a rise in suicide rates as the USA or any other Anglosphere country. But hey, what do I know? I'm just the 800 pound guerrilla in the room.
But why would suicide fall so sharply among the middle-aged in 2020 and 2021? Pandemic lockdowns were tough on this age group as well (unemployment, loss of business income, trying to work & supervise kids doing Zoom school at the same time).
Not sure why, but that is interesting indeed.