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STATISTICS on DEPRESSION and SUICIDE

 

DEPRESSION STATISTICS: CHILDREN FACT INFORMATION

  • Research indicates that the onset of depression/anxiety occurs earlier now than in past decades.
  • "We know that as many as 1 in 5 Canadian children and adolescents (20%)— more than 1.2 million people— will suffer from mental health issues before their 18th birthday," said Gordon M. Nixon, RBC president and CEO. (http://www.imshealthcanada.com/htmen/1_0_14.htm)
  • Canada's youth are another group of Canadians at high risk for suicide. In the half-century between 1952 and 2002, the Canadian suicide rate for 15 to 19-year-olds rose from 2 deaths per 100,000 people to just over 10 ... a 5-fold increase. This makes suicide the second-leading cause of death among young people in Canada, in BC and worldwide. In 2003, 41 youth and young adults aged 13-21 took their own lives in BC. About 7% of BC teenagers said they attempted suicide in the past year. And in a recent national survey, nearly a quarter of a million young people aged 15-24 had suicidal thoughts in the past year.
  • A nationwide survey of Canadian youth by Statistics Canada found that 6.5% — more than a quarter million youth and young adults between 15 and 24 — met the criteria for major depression in the past year.
  • In Canada, suicide is the leading cause of death for men aged 25 to 29 and 40 to 44, and for women aged 30 to 34. It is the second leading cause of death among youth aged 15 to 24. For each completed suicide there are 100 attempts, and over 23,000 Canadians are hospitalized each year for a suicide attempt.
  • More teenagers and young adults die from suicide than from cancer, heart disease, AIDS, birth defects, stroke, pneumonia and influenza, and chronic lung disease, combined. (www.surgeongeneral.gov/library - 2007)
  • Though BC's suicide rates have remained fairly stable over time - roughly 500 per year, suicide rates in Canada have been rising sharply for nearly 5 decades. Suicide deaths in Canada numbered 3,764 in 2003. By contrast, there were fewer than 450 murders and around 3,000 traffic-accident deaths.
  • 15 - 24 youth die by suicide daily; 1 every 90 minutes; 434 a month in North America (US Govt, Health Canada)
  • At least 23,000 hospitalizations per year in Canada are as a result of suicide attempts (Canadian Association for Suicide Prevention)
  • If a youth in Ontario is refrred to a registered counselor it may take al long as a year before they even get to meet one (Stakeholders in Public Health, Police and other agencies)
  • Aboriginal Youth suicide rate is at least 6 times the national average (Statistics Canada, National Aboriginal Health Organization)

 

CANADIAN Statistics

  • Within the population in Canada, 4 - 5% have major depression. Of those who develop depression/anxiety, only about 20% will receive adequate treatment. Of those who do seek treatment 80% respond well. (National Population Health Survey, Health Canada)
  • About 16% of adults will experience depression/anxiety at some point in their life.
  • About 97% of those reporting depression/anxiety also reported that their work, home life and relationships suffered as a result.
  • According to Health Canada and Statistics Canada, approximately 8% of adult Canadians (a staggering 13 to 14 million people) will experience a major depression/anxiety at some point in their lives, and around 5% will in a given year.
  • Depression/anxiety continues to be Canada's fastest-rising diagnosis. From 1994 to 2004, visits for depression/anxiety made to office-based doctors almost doubled. In 2003, that meant 11.6 million visits to doctors across Canada about depression/anxiety.
  • Up to 90% of people who have taken their own lives had depression, problem substance use, and/or a diagnosable disorder.
  • In 2003, Canadians were more than 8 times more likely to die from suicide than to be the victim of a homicide. Suicide claims more lives annually than other more openly discussed issues such as motor vehicle collisions, AIDS or homicide.(AMHB)
  • 54% of people believe depression is a personal weakness.
  • Canada’s suicide rate is ranked in the top third of all countries and we are one of the few countries that still do not have a national suicide prevention strategy.
  • Each year in Canada about 500 teenagers commit suicide. The problem is even worse when one considers that about 12 times as many youth attempt suicide as die from it. Also, youth who survive their first attempt are at increased risk of trying to kill themselves again and are more likely to succeed. (cmaj.ca - Jan-08)

 

GLOBAL Suicide Rates

  • In the year 2000, approximately one million people died from suicide: a "global" mortality rate of 16 per 100,000, or one death every 40 seconds.
  • In the last 45 years suicide rates have increased by 60% worldwide. Suicide is now among the 3 leading causes of death among those aged 15-44 years (both sexes); these figures do not include suicide attempts up to 20 times more frequent than completed suicide.
  • Although traditionally suicide rates have been highest among the male elderly, rates among young people have been increasing to such an extent that they are now the group at highest risk in a third of countries, in both developed and developing countries.
  • In the year 2000, 815,000 people lost their lives to suicide worldwide – more than double the number of people who die as a direct result of armed conflict every year.
  • Over 6 million people are affected each year by the disastrous impact of the suicide of a close friend or family member.

 

ANOTHER PERSPECTIVE

  • Every TWO minutes another life is lost to suicide.
  • For every 2 victims of homicide in the U.S. there are THREE persons who take their own lives.
  • There are now twice as many deaths due to suicide as to HIV/AIDS in the U.S.
  • Globally more people kill themselves than are killed by others each year (World Health Organization)
  • The youth death toll is equivalent to crashing a commercial airplane full of youth with no survivors each month or like having a 9/11 incident every 6 months.
  • 84% of Canadian said they wouldn't be afraid to talk about suicide if they found out someone was comtemplating it, the challenge is that people often aren't aware if someone is suicidal.  Also, nearly 40% said they wouldn't know what to do about it. (yourlifecounts.org)

 

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