Suicide: Death From Intentional Self-Injury Greatly Underestimated In U.S.

New findings published in JAMA Psychiatry reveal via the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) that suicide is the 10th leading cause of death in the United States. However, the way manner of death is classified in countries may ultimately determine whether cause of death is reported as such. 

Researchers noted that when an individual dies, it's up to state or local officials to determine whether the manner of death was a result of injury-homicide, accident, suicide or undetermined-or from natural causes, as many fatal self-injuries are not always labeled as suicide, including self-poisoning or drug overdose. Furthermore, the researchers also noted that determination of manner of death can also vary from country to country depending on certain guidelines and reporting systems.

In this report, the researchers emphasized the separation of drug-intoxication suicides from those labeled as accidental or intentional injury death and how it "masks the overall magnitude of fatalities arising from deliberate, self-destructive behaviors. In so doing, it mutes the urgency for demanding effective preventive interventions, and is problematic as the nation experiences a persisting and growing epidemic of opioid and other drug-poisoning deaths," according to a news release.

"We must begin to recognize and address the growth of deaths from self-harm through sustained interest, concern and action," they concluded. "Successful prevention and treatment of drug abuse and misuse will have a positive multiplier effect psychologically, socially, and economically."

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