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In only a handful of states are middle-aged people killing themselves at a higher rate than Arizona.
The Centers for Disease Control and prevention released a report today on Americans between the ages of 35 and 64 committing suicide, Arizona’s 24 suicides per 100,000 residents in 2010 was well above the national average of 17.6.
The CDC only listed state rates for about 40 states, but Utah is said to have the eighth-highest rate at 24.7, and Arizona’s just barely behind that at 24.3.
The silver lining is that Arizona’s increase in suicides in this age group from 1999 was under 16 percent, which was a lot less than some other states (suicides in Michigan increased by more than 40 percent, for example).
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According to the CDC, the most common suicide methods are firearms, poisoning, suffocation, and “other,” in that order.
The report from the CDC can be found here.
