very 42 seconds, someone in America attempts to commit suicide. Every 17 minutes, someone succeeds.

The Surgeon General recently issued a "Call to Action," challenging Americans to fight the silent threat of suicide, a scourge that claims more lives a year in the United States than AIDS.

As the largest city in the United States, New York City too has its own particular suicide problem, one that too often goes unmentioned. In finding the causes and methods of suicide, public health experts hope they can make a dent in this serious problem in the city and the country as a whole.

In 1998, 545 New York City residents killed themselves, a suicide rate of 7.2 per every 100,000 residents. While below the most recently recorded national rate, 11.7, New York still has a major health problem to fight – and challenges unique to the city in trying to win it.

hat is it that drives so many New Yorkers to such drastic actions, and how can these deaths be averted? According to Dr. John Mann, a nationally recognized authority on suicide, many complex factors lead to suicide attempts.

Certain psychiatric illnesses, such as various forms of depression, are almost always present. However, experts quickly point out that suicide is not a normal response to stress, depression or any other mental disorder.

Risk of suicide can also be inherited. "We know that it’s hereditarily transmitted...through a combination of genetic and rearing factors," says Mann. "We know that there’s definitely genetic factors that can determine the risk of suicide independent of inherited psychiatric illnesses."

According to National Institute of Mental Health, other factors that could increase the risk of suicide include: prior suicide attempts, family violence or abuse, family history of mental or substance abuse disorders, and impulsive or aggressive tendencies.

Life in the big city can add to these factors. Dr. Mary Bongiovi-Garcia of St. Luke’s Roosevelt Hospital treats patients who are depressed, or who have contemplated or attempted suicide. "It’s possible things like the very high stress of city life, the crowds, could be related to suicide, says Dr. Bongiovi-Garcia says. "These are all things that can really add to depression."

  

 

Desperate Acts

 

Q&A With A Suicide Expert

 
Good Samaritans


 

 

Suicide Facts
  • Suicide is the sixth-leading cause of death in New York; it is the eighth-leading cause in the United States.
  • New York has the third-lowest suicide rate; Nevada has the highest.
  • More than 30,000 Americans kill themselves per year, 50 percent more than those murdered.
  • Guns are used in over 60 percent of suicides, accounting for 18,000 deaths a year.
  • In New York, guns are used in only 20 percent.
  • Men account for 80 percent of all completed suicides, psychologists say partly because men tend to be more impulsive and aggressive, and are more likely to use a gun or another lethal method.
  • Women attempt suicide more often than men but have a higher survival rate, because women are more likely to use pills or other less lethal methods..
  • Although suicide is often thought of as most common in young people, the suicide rate for white men over 85 is highest at over six times the national rate.
  • Suicide is not more frequent during the holidays; the months with the highest number of sucides are April, June and July.

Sources: American Association of Suicidology, American Foundation for the Prevention of Suicide, National Institute of Mental Health, World Health Organization