SUICIDE RATES DROP FOR SECOND STRAIGHT YEAR

The overall suicide rate in the U.S. dropped for a second straight year in 2020 after climbing for two decades, according to preliminary data from the Centers of Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

The National Center for Health Statistics data released Wednesday counted almost 46,000 suicide deaths last year, amounting to a 3 percent decline compared to in 2019, despite the pandemic’s expected effect on the rate.

Among men, the suicide rate reduced 2 percent between 2019 and 2020, and women saw a drop of 9 percent in the time frame. The rate fell among women from all racial and ethnic groups, although only the 10 percent decline among white women was statistically significant.

But other populations, including younger adults, Blacks, American Indian and Alaskan Native, and Hispanics, saw increases.

During the pandemic: The drop comes after experts warned the pandemic increased risk factors associated with suicides, including mental health conditions, substance misuse, job stress and financial stress, sparking concerns that the rate would jump.

But the analysis of 99 percent of death records shows that the suicide rate remains higher than every other year before 2017 in the past two decades. The rate had increased 35 percent between 1999 and 2018 before a 2 percent decrease in 2019.