Statistics show that the number of Americans currently in their middle ages committing suicide sharply increased hitting an all time record high.

Insight on suicidal rates amongst middle-aged Americans

The rates at which Americans who are aged from 35 – 63 who are taking away their life is said to have greatly risen from 1999 – 2011. This is a pattern that largely depicts the fact that a lot of American citizens at this age are suffering from stress caused by the financial crisis in the country. All these facts were issued from a federal report. The report stated that middle aged people in America faced other unnoticed challenges that could have contributed to the sharp rise in suicidal rates amongst them.

The rate of suicides amongst middle-aged Americans is considered high simply because it overshadowed suicidal rates amongst younger adults. The numbers actually doubled in one year’s time amongst middle aged Americans and that’s why there is call for concern.

Dr. Thomas Simon spoke his mind by saying that the government often channels its focus and energy to avoiding suicides amongst very old people and adolescents. He added that the numbers suggest that a lot more needs to be done in that age bracket. Dr. Simon emphasized on the fact that the reason for looking more into adolescents and older generations wasn’t farfetched. It was simply because people in these age brackets experienced far much testing times as compared to those in the middle ages. They included relationships, bullying or sexual realization amongst adolescents and old age syndrome amongst old people.

Causes of high suicidal rates amongst the middle-aged

Dr. Simon further went to add that middle aged people should be included since they too face challenges of their own namely divorces, unemployment and responsibilities among others.

A lot of the researchers who analyzed the study said that it correlated with the economic situation of the country. They compared the two trends for the last two decades and found a consistent pattern between them over that duration. The study proved without any doubt that suicides tend to increase as the economy weakens. It was during the same period when the study was carried out that the country plunged into the Great Recession.

The circumstances brought about by the Great Recession such as, unemployment hitting an all time high of 10%, really overwhelmed on a lot of middle aged Americans. A lot of the American citizens in this age bracket had a lot of responsibilities and burdens on their shoulders. They included caring for their kids and parents, mortgages and loans among many others.

The main catch according to Dr. Simon was whether there would be a decrease in suicidal rates if the economic situation improved for people in this age bracket.

A different study cautioned that the data might be actually higher than what is tabulated at various information centers. The actual figures showed that Native Americans ranked highest in the study with 65% while non-Hispanic Whites ranked lowest with 40%.

Victims frequently took away their lives by shooting themselves, hanging, taking poisonous substances and suffocation.