Government report says whites are committing suicide at alarming rate

The Centers for Disease Prevention and Control (CDC) just released new information concerning suicide rates and the figures show that one-third of all suicides are committed by middle-aged whites, according to a story on The Blaze.

The CDC’s report said that suicide was the 10th leading cause of death in the United States, and the overall rate of suicides has risen 24 percent over the last 15 years.  White people have been the highest demographic for suicides for some time, but in the past, the majority were older white males.  This new data is showing a shift to whites aged between 45 and 64 years of age.

There were almost 43,000 suicides in the US in the year 2014, with 14,000 of them being middle-aged whites.  That represents more than two times the combined total of suicides among blacks, Hispanics, Asians, Pacific slanders, American Indians and Alaskan natives.  Since middle-aged whites only make up 18 percent of the total population, the fact they account for 33 percent of suicides is alarming.

Nadine Kaslow, an Emory University researcher and past president of the American Psychological Association, said the findings from this report were “extremely concerning.”

Although the report doesn’t attempt to answer the questions about why certain groups are on the uptick, many experts are speculating that being middle-aged can be especially hard on whites who have enjoyed relatively easier times in the past, at least compared to other racial and ethnic groups.

The country’s economy may also play a part in the overall increase of suicide rates, again a factor that may influence white males, who saw their retirement plans shattered by the economic downturn at the end of the 2000s.  Many lost their employment and a good bit of their savings during that period, and remain worried about their futures even now.

A report from the CDC released earlier found that life expectancy for white women fell in 2014, as did the rate for white people in general.  That report included suicides as a contributor to those numbers, as well as drug overdoses and other factors.