Suicide in Texas is a serious public health concern-and one that might be addressed successfully through a coordinated and comprehensive approach aimed at prevention.
Consider the toll it is taking on our state:
- Slightly more than six Texans die from suicide each day with more deaths overall by suicide than by homicide.
- Suicide is the 10th leading cause of death for Texans and the third leading cause of death among youth ages fifteen to twenty-four, and the second leading cause of death for college age students.
- Regardless of age, males are more likely to die because of suicide than females.
- Suicide rates (number of deaths per 100,000 population) tend to be highest among senior Texans and the largest numbers of deaths by suicide tend to be in the middle ages.
- Suicide cuts across all ages, all ethnicities and both genders. Although Anglo white males have had the highest suicide rates, in Texas we have seen an increase in deaths by suicide for young African American males and an increase in deaths by suicide for middle aged women.
- National surveys indicate that Hispanic female teens report the highest number of suicide attempts, and Texas has more reported attempts for this group than those reported nationally.