Although the U.S. suicide rate has been rising gradually since 2000, suicides in less urban areas are outpacing those in more urban areas, according to a new federal report.
"Geographic disparities in suicide rates might be associated with suicide risk factors known to be highly prevalent in less urban areas, such as limited access to mental health care, made worse by shortages in behavioral health care providers in these areas, and greater social isolation," the researchers from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention wrote.
It's also possible that economic pressures may have played a role, the study authors noted. The biggest increase in the suicide gap occurred beginning in 2007-2008, when the U.S. economy was experiencing a severe recession.
Another possibility the researchers pointed to is the country's opioid epidemic. In the early years of the current study, opioid misuse was more common in less urban areas.
About 600,000 U.S. residents died by suicide from 1999 to 2015, the CDC researchers said. The highest annual suicide rate occurred in 2015.
[For more of this story go to https://consumer.healthday.com...e-cities-720748.html]
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