US Suicide Rate Rose Sharply Among Middle-Aged Mike Stobbe - Associated Press
go to original May 3, 2013

The suicide rate among middle-aged Americans climbed a startling 28 percent in a decade, a period that included the recession and the mortgage crisis, the government reported Thursday.

The trend was most pronounced among white men and women in that age group. Their suicide rate jumped 40 percent between 1999 and 2010.

But the rates in younger and older people did not change. And there was little change among middle-aged blacks, Hispanics and most other racial and ethnic groups.

Why did so many middle-aged whites take their own lives?

One theory suggests the recession caused more emotional trauma in whites, who tend not to have the same kind of church support and extended families that blacks and Hispanics do. Another theory notes that white baby boomers have always had higher rates of depression and suicide, and that has held true as they've hit middle age.

Read the rest at Worldnow

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