Suicide Rates on the Rise: Signs to Look for and How to Help Someone at Risk

Suicide Rates on the Rise; Signs to Look for and How to Help Someone at Risk

In the past week, the high-profile suicides of designer Kate Spade and celebrity chef and television personality Anthony Bourdain, as well as a new report by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, have brought increased attention to the need to address mental health and suicide prevention issues. Suicide rates have increased in every state but Nevada between 1999 and 2016, with more than half of the states seeing an increase of 30 percent or more, the CDC report, released June 7, revealed. In New Jersey, the rate of suicide increased by almost 20 percent during that time period. Moreover, 54 percent of people who died by suicide did not have a known mental health condition, according to the report.

In this new video, Anthony Tobia, MD, associate professor of psychiatry, Rutgers Robert Wood Johnson Medical School, discusses suicide and suicide prevention, including signs to look for, and how friends and family can help someone they believe may be at risk.

If you or someone you know is in need of help, please call the NJ Hopeline at 1-855-654-6735, New Jersey's 24/7 Peer Support & Suicide Prevention Hotline. Specialists are available to confidential telephone counseling and support 24 hours a day, seven days a week.