Suicide is one of the top ten main causes of death in the United States, making it a major issue. Suicide rates vary enormously across the United States. Understanding demographic trends and mortality processes at various levels of urbanization is crucial for developing and concentrating future prevention strategies. Suicide rates increased at all three levels of urbanization. The demographics with the highest suicide rates were men and non-Hispanic American Indian/Alaska Natives. The rate of suicides committed with firearms in nonmetropolitan/rural areas was nearly twice that of larger metropolitan counties. Suicides have increased in recent years, particularly among working-age people aged 45–64 (Ivey-Stephenson et al., 2017). The suicide rate in the West is higher than in the South, Midwest, and Northeast. This study looks at death certificate data from 2001 to 2015 to see how urbanization, demographic characteristics, and death method affect suicide patterns.
Nonmetropolitan or rural counties have persistently higher age-adjusted suicide rates than medium/small and large metropolitan counties from 2001 to 2015. Economic indices, for example, foreclosures, poverty, and unemployment, differ by the amount of urbanization, with rural regions often having a higher frequency of these negative aspects. Suicide rates for males are more significant than for women when age is considered (Ivey-Stephenson et al., 2017). This discrepancy persists independent of urbanization degree, with nonmetropolitan/rural counties showing the most significant disparities. Non-Hispanic American Indian or Alaska Natives have the highest suicide rates of any race or ethnicity.
Suicidal behavior is common among older people for several reasons, although much of it stems from social factors. Loneliness always and generally has been to top the list of reasons for suicide. Many older people are housebound and live on their own, usually after losing a spouse. If their spouse has recently passed away and there are no family members or friends nearby, they may lack the social connections to live a peaceful life. The result is prolonged and severe depression. As a rule, men kill themselves, and there is a reason for that too. This is professional and existential burnout, a whole life devoted to a particular cause, whether family or work, can eventually lead to depression in old age (Coon et al., 2018). The most obvious is the destructive influence on residents of densely populated urban areas. Even though there are many potential social interactions around at first glance, people feel alienated. The heavy, chaotic, and stressful workflow in cities; the same can be said about the urbanized life itself.
Suicide rates for the general population are greater in rural settlements than in metropolitan ones, regardless of sex, race/ethnicity, age group, or method of death. The study emphasizes the importance of analyzing both across and within urbanization levels in order to plan and implement personalized suicide prevention measures. In this case, alienation may arise due to literal asociality—life on remote and isolated farms, away from the nearest community center (Coon et al., 2018). The rural dweller’s lack of access to so many urban morale boosters, such as psychological help and antidepressants, has an effect. Hard manual labor also plays an important role, often causing more stress among the men who traditionally do it in the field. All these factors, in essence, form a logical picture of what happens to the resident of the countryside further. Stress, fatigue, and alienation lead to many people in rural areas experiencing depression. However, in the absence of qualified psychologists nearby and medical assistance, like antidepressants, people resort to older ways to relieve stress. As a rule, many people in late middle and old age can suffer from alcoholism, which comes from attempts to get rid of stress through alcohol.
References
Coon, D., Mitterer, J. O., & Martini, T. S. (2018). Introduction to Psychology: Gateways to Mind and Behavior (15th ed.). Cengage Learning.
Ivey-Stephenson, A. Z., Crosby, A. E., Jack, S. P. D., Haileyesus, T., & Kresnow-Sedacca, M. J. (2017). Suicide trends among and within urbanization levels by sex, race/ethnicity, age group, and mechanism of death — United States, 2001–2015.MMWR. Surveillance Summaries, 66(18), 1–16.