Women & Suicide: What's the Truth?

Suicide can be complex. Sometimes you never it see it coming in your loved ones, other times you’ve witnessed the emotional roller-coaster firsthand.

Research has shown that 90 percent of people who end their life struggled with depression, or another mental health disorder.

According to the CDC, 38,364 people killed themselves in 2010, an average of 105 each day making suicide the 10th leading cause of death for Americans. Unfortunately, these numbers do not raise awareness enough, and people who are suicidal tend to keep their feelings inside causing further complications in addressing the problem.

Reports of suicide have seen a dramatic increase among middle-aged women. In fact, 31 percent of women from 6.2 per 100,000 in 1999 to 8.1 in 2010.

Why?

In women, there are specific changes that happen in the levels in their endocrine system (collection of glands that secrete hormones directly into the circulatory system). The level of cortisol, the primary stress hormone, is increasing,

Even though each person is different, there are some clues that could determine if someone is depressed, or thinking of taking their own life. Sleeping too much, talking a lot about wanting to die, feeling hopeless, feeling like a burden, increased isolation, recreational drug and alcohol use, and showing extreme mood swings or behavior can all be indicators.

Board-certified psychiatrist, award- winning psychotherapist and board-certified addiction psychiatrist, Christopher La Tourette La Riche, MD, discusses the myths and truths behind suicide in women.