Category: Suicide

How Employers Can Advance the 2024 National Strategy for Suicide Prevention

  Suicide is a serious public health threat. In 2022 in the United States, nearly 50,000 adults died by suicide, 13.2 million adults seriously considered suicide, 3.8 million planned a suicide attempt, and 1.6 million attempted suicide.[1] In that same year, 267 adults died by suicide while at work in the United States.[2] That is Read More >

Posted on by Hope M. Tiesman, Eric G. Carbone, John Malgeri, L. Casey Chosewood

Mental Health, Alcohol Use, and Substance Use Resources for Workers and Employers

  The workplace is an important setting to address mental health conditions, excessive alcohol use, and other substance use disorders among workers. In 2021, more than half of U.S. adults who reported a mental illness in the last year were employed. National U.S. data show that 70% of all adults with a substance use disorder (including Read More >

Posted on by Jamie C. Osborne, MPH, CHES® and Sudha P. Pandalai, MD, PhD, MS6 Comments

Critical Steps Your Workplace Can Take Today to Prevent Suicide

  Employers can play a vital role in suicide prevention. Historically, suicide, mental health, and well-being have been underrepresented in workplace health and safety efforts, but this is changing. In some European countries, there are workplace standards for workplace psychosocial hazards that put workers at risk for suicide. Additionally, in France, employers have been made Read More >

Posted on by Hope M. Tiesman, PhD; Jodi Frey, PhD, LCSW-C, CEAP; and Sally Spencer-Thomas, PsyD

Suicide Prevention for Healthcare Workers

Some occupations are known to have higher rates of suicide than others (see related blogs). Job factors – such as low job security, low pay, and job stress – can contribute to risk of suicide, as can easy access to lethal means among people at risk—such as medications or firearms. Other factors that can influence the link between occupation and suicide include gender, socioeconomic status, the economy, cultural factors, and stigma. Read More >

Posted on by Hope Tiesman, PhD; David Weissman, MD; Deborah Stone, ScD, MSW, MPH; Kristen Quinlan, PhD; and L. Casey Chosewood, MD, MPH3 Comments

Suicides Among First Responders: A Call to Action

  The recent Surgeon General’s “Call to Action to Implement the National Strategy for Suicide Prevention” highlighted suicides as a significant public health problem. In 2019, there were 47,500 suicide fatalities in the U.S. and an estimated 1.4 million suicide attempts[1]. The causes of suicide are complex, with many personal, socio-demographic, medical, and economic factors Read More >

Posted on by Hope M. Tiesman, PhD; Katherine L. Elkins, MPH; Melissa Brown, DrPH; Suzanne Marsh, MPA; and Leslie M. Carson, MPH, MSW70 Comments

Partnering to Prevent Suicide in the Construction Industry – Building Hope and a Road to Recovery

September is Suicide Prevention Month. During this yearly observance, many organizations will place special emphasis on mental health and suicide prevention – including those in the construction industry where suicide rates of workers are alarmingly high.1 Overall, suicide rates in the U.S. have increased, and it has been the 10th leading cause of death since Read More >

Posted on by Trudi McCleery, MPH; Scott Earnest, PhD, PE, CSP; Christina Socias-Morales, DrPH; and CDR Elizabeth Garza, MPH, CPH3 Comments

Work-Related Low-Back Injury and Increased Rate of Death

Do certain types of work-related disabilities lead to an increased rate of death? This question has not been well studied. Recently published research, “Increased overall and cause‐specific mortality associated with disability among workers’ compensation claimants with low back injuries,” examined the issue. [1]  The study found that those with a lost-time disabling low-back workers’ compensation Read More >

Posted on by Chris Martin, MD, MSc, and Stephen Bertke, PhD2 Comments

Suicide Risk for Veterinarians and Veterinary Technicians

A new study, “Suicides and deaths of undetermined intent among veterinary professionals from 2003 through 2014” sheds new light on the issue of suicide among veterinary professions. It is known that veterinarians in the United States and abroad have a higher suicide risk compared with the general population.[1-8] This new study confirms the increased rated of suicide Read More >

Posted on by Randall J. Nett, MD, MPH; Tracy Witte, PhD; Elizabeth G. Spitzer, MA; Nicole Edwards, MS; and Katherine A. Fowler, PhD13 Comments

Injured Workers More Likely to Die from Suicide or Opioid Overdose

Drug overdoses and suicides have been rising since 2000 and are major contributors to a recent decline in US life expectancy. The opioid crisis is largely to blame, with a record 47,600 overdose deaths in 2017.[1] Suicide rates in 2016 have increased 30% from 1999.[2] Case and Deaton have called these “deaths of despair.”[3] In Read More >

Posted on by Katie M. Applebaum, ScD; Abay Asfaw, PhD; Paul K. O’Leary, PhD; Andrew Busey, BS; Yorghos Tripodis, PhD; and Leslie I. Boden, PhD15 Comments

Job Strain, Long Work Hours, and Suicidal Thoughts

September 9-15th, 2018 is National Suicide Prevention week. Workplace suicide and mental health in general are often underrepresented in workplace health and safety discussions. However, globally, more than 300 million people suffer from depression, the leading cause of disability (WHO, 2017). In the US, the suicide mortality rate increased by 24% from 1999 to 2014, Read More >

Posted on by Sarah Mitchell, MPH, and BongKyoo Choi, ScD, MPH8 Comments

Suicide Among Former NFL Players

  The question of whether football players are at higher risk of suicide than the general population has been raised in the popular and scientific literature.  In 2012, the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) published a paper primarily focused on death from heart disease among former National Football League (NFL) players (see Read More >

Posted on by Doug Trout, MD, MHS

Workplace Suicide

  The research literature on occupation and suicide has consistently identified several occupations at high risk for suicide: farmers, medical doctors, law enforcement officers, and soldiers. However, there are few studies examining suicides that occur in U.S. workplaces. Recently published research from NIOSH, examined suicides occurring in U.S. workplaces between 2003 and 2010 and compared workplace Read More >

Posted on by Hope M. Tiesman, PhD 11 Comments