Dr. Alec Miller was recently interviewed by Voice of America – an international news and broadcast organization about the global suicide crisis. Every 40 seconds someone loses their life to suicide, and VOA reached out to Dr. Miller for his expertise on why people die by suicide and what the risk factors are, who are most at risk, the best ways to prevent suicide, and how one can help someone struggling with suicidal thoughts.
According to the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention, suicide is the 10th leading cause of death in the United States. In 2017 47,173 Americans died by suicide and there were an estimated 1.4 million suicide attempts. On average there are 129 suicides per day. Based on the 2017 Youth Risk Behaviors Survey, 7.4 percent of youth in grades 9-12 reported that they had made at least one suicide attempt in the past 12 months. Female students attempted almost twice as often as male students (9.3% vs. 5.1%). Approximately 2.4 percent of all students reported making a suicide attempt that required treatment by a doctor or nurse. According to the National Institute of Mental Health, there were more than twice as many suicides in the United States as there were homicides and it is the leading cause of death among individuals between the ages of 10 and 34.
Voice of America is the largest U.S. based international broadcaster and the International Edition brings the world together with U.S. perspectives and VOA hosts interview experts, analysts, influencers and newsmakers to help tell the trending stories of the day. They recently reached out to Dr. Alec Miller to talk about the alarming rise in suicide according to the World Health Organization, possible causes, potential signs, and how to help someone who might be considering suicide.