Scientists Blame US Government for Rising Suicides

Suicide rates in the U.S. have been steadily rising in recent decades, with 2022 seeing a 3 percent increase compared to the previous year.

Researchers have blamed this trend on everything from declining mental health to increased social media exposure and firearm accessibility, but a new study from the University of Colorado Boulder has pointed to a different driver: the federal government.

“We contend that the U.S. federal government’s weak regulatory oversight of the pharmaceutical industry and tattered social safety nets have significantly shaped U.S. suicide risk,” Daniel Simon, a doctoral candidate in the Department of Sociology and research affiliate with the Institute of Behavioral Science at CU Boulder, said in a statement.

In a study published in the Journal of Health and Social Behavior, Simon and associate sociology professor Ryan Masters analyzed the records of more than 16 million deaths of U.S. adults between 1990 and 2017. Of these, 600,000 had taken their own lives.

The researchers then separated these deaths into two categories: intentional poisoning and non-poisoning (all other methods of self-harm). From this data, two notable turning points emerged.

The first was in 1997, one year after the long-acting opioid OxyContin hit the market. “In the late 1990s, the method women often consider using to attempt to end their life suddenly became much more potent and much more available, with devastating consequences,” Simon said.

This turning point ushered in an increase of poisoning suicide rates among women by roughly 2 percent per year through to 2017, with the most drastic changes seen in states without prescription drug monitoring programs.

“Our study showed that the approval, easy access and over-prescription of opioid-based pain relievers had deleterious consequences for U.S. suicide rates for women, a reality that has been overlooked in discussions of the opioid epidemic,” Simon said.

The second turning point was in 2007, at the onset of the housing and financial crash. This saw a spike in non-poisoning suicides among both men and women. When looking at state-level financial indicators, the researchers saw suicide rates strongly correlated to changes in the states’ economic conditions, such as rising poverty, unemployment and stagnating wages.

Economic recessions are not always associated with a rise in suicide rates, and these rates also continued to rise long after the recession has subsided.

“Oftentimes, the health consequences of an economic downturn can be mitigated by aggressive moves to alleviate the financial burden of individuals,” co-author Masters said in a statement. “Unfortunately, that did not happen during the Great Recession or during the slow and unequal recovery since. This has left individuals more vulnerable to economic stressors and that likely has spilled over into the elevation of suicide rates.”

In particular, the authors point to the $2 trillion investment of U.S. policymakers in the banking sector after the Great Recession while cutting funding for federal housing and urban development by $3.8 billion.

While psychiatric and social factors are also important risk factors, the authors highlight that these broader “structural determinants” are also important contributors and require serious attention.

If you or someone you know is considering suicide, please contact the 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline by dialing 988, text “988” to the Crisis Text Line at 741741 or go to 988lifeline.org.