Suicide prevention changes focus.

• Author: Hendrikson, Hollie
• Position: TRENDS & TRANSITIONS

Most state suicide-prevention programs have focused on teens, but lawmakers are turning their attention to middle-aged Americans who increasingly are taking their own lives at an alarming rate. In the past decade, 80 percent of states have seen suicides in this age group increase an average of 28 percent. Rates among younger people have remained relatively unchanged, at less than 25 percent the rate of older Americans.

Roughly 21,000 people between the ages of 35 and 64 took their lives in 2009; 10 years earlier, that number was 14,000. The greatest increases were among men in their 50s and women in their early 60s. Women's suicide rate increased by almost 60 percent and men's by 50 percent, according to a recent report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

The increases contribute to a grim trend in our country--suicides have begun to outnumber highway deaths, 38,364 to 33,687 in 2010. Why? The recent economic downturn and the rise in prescription opioid overdoses, among other things, are possible causes, according to the CDC.

Tennessee led a youth suicide-prevention effort in 2007 by passing the Jason Flatt Act, named after a 16-year-old Nashville boy. The act makes youth suicide awareness and prevention training a requirement for middle and high school teachers and staff. Nine states have adopted similar measures.

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