TABLE 3. Number* and percentage† of suicides among persons aged ≥10 years,§ by decedent’s sex and precipitating circumstances — National Violent Death Reporting System, 48 states and District of Columbia,¶ 2021.
| Precipitating circumstance | Male |
Female |
Total |
|---|---|---|---|
| No. (%) | No. (%) | No. (%) | |
|
Mental health and substance use
| |||
| Current diagnosed mental health problem** |
12,391 (44.9) |
4,598 (64.9) |
16,994 (49.0)
|
| Depression or dysthymia |
8,738 (70.5) |
3,483 (75.8) |
12,225 (71.9)
|
| Anxiety disorder |
2,620 (21.1) |
1,358 (29.5) |
3,980 (23.4)
|
| Bipolar disorder |
1,584 (12.8) |
800 (17.4) |
2,384 (14.0)
|
| Schizophrenia |
938 (7.6) |
243 (5.3) |
1,181 (6.9)
|
| Posttraumatic stress disorder |
835 (6.7) |
220 (4.8) |
1,057 (6.2)
|
| Attention deficit disorder or attention deficit hyperactivity disorder |
469 (3.8) |
102 (2.2) |
571 (3.4)
|
| Dementia |
239 (1.9) |
59 (1.3) |
298 (1.8)
|
| Autism spectrum |
98 (<1.0) |
15 (<1.0) |
113 (<1.0)
|
| Obsessive compulsive disorder |
76 (<1.0) |
32 (<1.0) |
108 (<1.0)
|
| Eating disorder |
10 (<1.0) |
24 (<1.0) |
34 (<1.0)
|
| Fetal alcohol syndrome |
1 (<1.0) |
2 (<1.0) |
3 (<1.0)
|
| Down syndrome |
1 (<1.0) |
0 (—) |
1 (<1.0)
|
| Other |
547 (4.4) |
214 (4.7) |
761 (4.5)
|
| Unknown |
923 (7.4) |
343 (7.5) |
1,267 (7.5)
|
| History of ever being treated for a mental health or substance use problem |
7,701 (27.9) |
3,197 (45.1) |
10,901 (31.4)
|
| Current depressed mood |
7,984 (28.9) |
2,143 (30.2) |
10,128 (29.2)
|
| Current mental health or substance use treatment |
5,396 (19.6) |
2,531 (35.7) |
7,929 (22.9)
|
| Substance use problem (excludes alcohol) |
4,914 (17.8) |
1,338 (18.9) |
6,252 (18.0)
|
| Alcohol problem |
5,121 (18.6) |
1,072 (15.1) |
6,193 (17.9)
|
| Non-adherence to mental health or substance use treatment |
1,227 (4.4) |
393 (5.5) |
1,621 (4.7)
|
| Other addiction (e.g., gambling or sexual) |
222 (<1.0) |
43 (<1.0) |
265 (<1.0)
|
|
Interpersonal factor
| |||
| Intimate partner problem |
7,056 (25.6) |
1,603 (22.6) |
8,659 (25.0)
|
| Family relationship problem |
1,904 (6.9) |
692 (9.8) |
2,597 (7.5)
|
| Other death (not suicide) of family member or friend |
1,749 (6.3) |
506 (7.1) |
2,255 (6.5)
|
| Other relationship problem (nonintimate and nonfamily) |
597 (2.2) |
176 (2.5) |
773 (2.2)
|
| Suicide of family member or friend |
549 (2.0) |
192 (2.7) |
741 (2.1)
|
| Perpetrator of interpersonal violence during past month |
681 (2.5) |
54 (<1.0) |
735 (2.1)
|
| Victim of interpersonal violence during past month |
50 (<1.0) |
72 (1.0) |
122 (<1.0)
|
|
Life stressor
| |||
| Crisis during previous or upcoming 2 weeks |
8,550 (31.0) |
1,904 (26.9) |
10,454 (30.1)
|
| Physical health problem |
5,574 (20.2) |
1,328 (18.7) |
6,902 (19.9)
|
| Argument or conflict |
4,297 (15.6) |
1,139 (16.1) |
5,437 (15.7)
|
| Job problem |
2,322 (8.4) |
400 (5.6) |
2,723 (7.8)
|
| Recent criminal legal problem |
2,175 (7.9) |
188 (2.7) |
2,363 (6.8)
|
| Financial problem |
1,513 (5.5) |
344 (4.9) |
1,857 (5.4)
|
| Family stressor |
892 (3.2) |
294 (4.1) |
1,186 (3.4)
|
| Exposure to disaster |
822 (3.0) |
223 (3.1) |
1,046 (3.0)
|
| Household had contact with local authorities |
682 (2.5) |
247 (3.5) |
929 (2.7)
|
| Noncriminal legal problem |
676 (2.4) |
180 (2.5) |
856 (2.5)
|
| Eviction or loss of home |
673 (2.4) |
170 (2.4) |
844 (2.4)
|
| School problem |
350 (1.3) |
125 (1.8) |
475 (1.4)
|
| History of traumatic brain injury |
353 (1.3) |
64 (<1.0) |
418 (1.2)
|
| History of child abuse or neglect |
229 (<1.0) |
171 (2.4) |
401 (1.2)
|
| Physical fight (two persons, not a brawl) |
289 (1.0) |
44 (<1.0) |
333 (<1.0)
|
| Living transition or loss of independent living |
253 (<1.0) |
34 (<1.0) |
287 (<1.0)
|
| Traumatic anniversary |
168 (<1.0) |
81 (1.1) |
249 (<1.0)
|
| Caregiver burden |
170 (<1.0) |
42 (<1.0) |
212 (<1.0)
|
| Caretaker abuse or neglect |
25 (<1.0) |
26 (<1.0) |
51 (<1.0)
|
|
Crime and criminal activity
| |||
| Precipitated by another crime |
1,113 (4.0) |
87 (1.2) |
1,200 (3.5)
|
| Crime in progress†† |
390 (35.0) |
22 (25.3) |
412 (34.3)
|
|
Suicide and self-harm event
| |||
| History of suicidal thoughts or plans |
9,029 (32.7) |
2,776 (39.2) |
11,808 (34.0)
|
| Left a suicide note |
7,390 (26.8) |
2,493 (35.2) |
9,885 (28.5)
|
| History of attempting suicide |
3,974 (14.4) |
2,123 (29.9) |
6,100 (17.6)
|
| History of nonsuicidal self-harm |
604 (2.2) |
482 (6.8) |
1,086 (3.1)
|
|
Suicide disclosure
| |||
| Disclosed suicidal intent |
5,874 (21.3) |
1,525 (21.5) |
7,400 (21.3)
|
| Disclosed intent to whom§§ |
|
|
|
| Former or current intimate partner |
2,352 (40.0) |
542 (35.5) |
2,894 (39.1)
|
| Other family member |
2,134 (36.3) |
571 (37.4) |
2,705 (36.6)
|
| Friend or colleague |
821 (14.0) |
241 (15.8) |
1,063 (14.4)
|
| Through social media or other electronic means |
319 (5.4) |
84 (5.5) |
403 (5.4)
|
| Health care worker |
281 (4.8) |
94 (6.2) |
375 (5.1)
|
| Neighbor |
111 (1.9) |
33 (2.2) |
144 (1.9)
|
| Other |
507 (8.6) |
115 (7.5) |
623 (8.4)
|
| Unknown |
369 (6.3) |
108 (7.1) |
477 (6.4)
|
|
Child decedent incident¶¶
| |||
| Previous Child Protective Services report on victim’s household |
21 (2.5) |
23 (5.9) |
44 (3.6)
|
| Substance use in decedent’s household |
9 (1.1) |
5 (1.3) |
14 (1.2)
|
| Total*** | 27,598 (84.1) | 7,089 (85.5) | 34,692 (84.4) |
* Includes suicides with one or more precipitating circumstances. More than one circumstance could have been present per decedent.
† Denominator includes suicides with one or more precipitating circumstances. The sums of percentages in columns exceed 100% because more than one circumstance could have been present per decedent.
§ Suicide is not reported for decedents aged <10 years because of the small number of suicide deaths per year in this age group.
¶ Includes all U.S. states and District of Columbia, with exception of Florida and Hawaii. Data for California are for violent deaths that occurred in 31 counties (Amador, Butte, Colusa, Fresno, Glenn, Humboldt, Imperial, Kings, Lake, Lassen, Los Angeles, Mendocino, Merced, Modoc, Mono, Orange, Placer, Sacramento, San Benito, San Diego, San Francisco, San Luis Obispo, San Mateo, Santa Cruz, Shasta, Siskiyou, Solano, Sonoma, Tehama, Ventura, and Yolo). Data for Texas are for violent deaths that occurred in 13 counties (Bell, Bexar, Collin, Dallas, Denton, El Paso, Fort Bend, Harris, Montgomery, Nueces, Tarrant, Travis, and Williamson).
** Includes decedents with one or more diagnosed current mental health problems; therefore, sums of percentages for the diagnosed conditions exceed 100%. Denominator for the diagnosed conditions include the number of decedents with one or more current diagnosed mental health problems.
†† Denominator includes those decedents involved in an incident that was precipitated by another crime.
§§ Denominator includes decedents who disclosed intent. The sum of percentages exceeds 100% because more than one response could have been present per decedent.
¶¶ Circumstance variables in this category are applicable exclusively to children with a known circumstance. Denominator includes decedents aged 10–17 years (828 males, 389 females, and 1,217 total). Circumstances were unknown for 304 child decedents; total number of children suicide decedents = 1,521.
*** Circumstances were unknown for 6,424 decedents (5,226 males, 1,198 females, and five unknown); total number of suicide decedents = 41,116 (32,824 males, 8,287 females, and five unknown).