Reasons Behind the High Suicide Rates in the U.S.

Depression and suicide are widely discussed mental health issues in today’s society and bring about significant health concerns. Over 40,000 Americans die by suicide each year resulting in approximately $44.6 billion in combined medical and work loss cost in the United States alone. (Centers for Disease Control [CDC], 2017). The substantial statistics and the factors contributing to increased risk of suicide, including depression, have led to an in-depth investigation.

Healthy People 2020 has an initiative to track the nation’s health and provides a 10-year comprehensive array of national health goals and objectives in attempt to improve the health of all Americans however, there are still areas that that have no detectable change and areas that have shown a lack of progress; suicide being one of these categories. In 2007, there were approximately 11.3 deaths per 100,000 Americans but by 2010 that number increased to 12.1 and in 2008, approximately 8.3% of adolescents aged 12-17 were diagnosed with major depressive episodes but by 2012 that number increased to 9.1% ([CDC], 2017).

How is it that with the comprehensive set of goals and objectives for improving mental health of all Americans set-forth by HP2020, an increase continues to be observed in diagnosed major depressive episodes and/or suicide?

In recent years, clinicians and researchers have collaborated on the reasons for the increase that has been observed. Some have speculated that it was due, in part, to the level of outreach for those who already suffer from a mental-health disorder. Others have speculated that increased school workloads, obesity, the recession of the late 2000s, changes in family structure and patterns of substance abuse may be contributing factors. Although there are correlations between them all, there are other reasons that have been found to have higher impacts on the increase in mental health issues and suicide rates amongst adolescents ages 12-17 as shown on the Healthy People 2020 LHI. Research suggests that it is, in part, due to the popularity and advancement of electronic communication, including all social media platforms (Augner & Hacker, 2012; Kross et al., 2013; Huang, 2017; Shakya & Christakis, 2017; Tromholt, 2016). It is important to consider these factors when discussing indicators to suicide in relation to health.

Research suggests that young children and adolescents are losing their sense of self-worth and social interaction skills due to the amount of time spent on screens. Research indicates that adolescents are constantly trying to find validity in their lives through the amount of likes a picture receives, or how many friends they possess on any given social medial platform. Although some studies find links with positive well-being (e.g., Dienlin, Masur, & Trepte, 2017; Oh, Ozkaya, & LaRose, 2014; Valkenburg, Peter, & Schouten, 2006), others link frequency of social media use to a higher risk of poor psychological well-being (Augner & Hacker, 2012; Kross et al., 2013; Huang, 2017; Shakya & Christakis, 2017; Tromholt, 2016). However, the conclusions of the studies mostly depend on the motivation people possess for using social media and whether or not their actions qualify as “addictive behaviors.”

It is important to take into account how adolescents spend their time including both screen and non-screen activities. One study showed that iGen adolescents in the 2010s spent more time on electronic communication and less time on in-person interaction than their Millennial and Generation X (GenX) predecessors at the same age (Twenge, 2017; Twenge & Uhls, 2017). In human biological advancement research, it has been found that over the course of time, the human neural architecture has primarily evolved under the conditions of continuous face-to-face contact with others. Doesn’t it make sense that if there is a continual decrease or absence of this human interaction and key biological input system, that there would also be a higher risk of destabilization of the human system as a whole, in turn affecting mental health and, consequently at times, leading to suicide?

In recent years, research has focused on the role face-to-face plays with emotional connection, mental well-being and suicide. The interpersonal theory of suicide (Joiner, 2005; Van Orden et al., 2010) assumes the desire for suicide or suicide related outcomes, is the combination of both the feeling of thwarted belongingness and the felling of burdensomeness. One study by Kross, Deters & Mehl (2013), shows that social interaction with face-to-face contact provides a much better emotional connection than electronic communication, which in return provides protection against the feeling of a thwarted belonginess (i.e., loneliness/ alienation).

It makes sense that with the production of smart phones and decrease in face-to-face interaction, an increase in depression and suicide has been documented (Song et al., 2014). Electronic communication use started in 2007 and by 2012, hand held devices with immediate internet access saturated the market. It was then, that researchers began observing an exponential increase in the amount of depression cases where individuals linked the feeling of loneliness to their depression (Song et al., 2014) providing them with evidence that the observed increase in screen time and decrease face-to-face interaction, is a major concern that leads to mental health issues.

Although performing experiments to identify the mechanisms that underlie mental health trends is a very difficult task due to ethical reasons, research has had to rely on national statistics and observed patterns. These patterns show a direct correlation between more frequent electronic communication and higher levels of depressive symptoms since the year 2010, as discussed above. Thus, it does not seem coincidental that the increasing rise of screen time could be the leading factor for higher rates of adolescent mental health issues and suicide.