Suicide rates in the U.S. have gone up considerably in recent years, claiming an average of 36,000 lives annually.
Most people take their lives in or near home. But suicide on the job is also increasing and, according to federal researchers, suicide risk changes depending on the type of work people do.
Researchers from the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health analyzed census data and compared suicide rates among different occupations.
They found that, between 2003 and 2010, a total of 1,719 people died by suicide in the workplace. Rates of suicide on the job declined from 1.5 per million workers in 2003 to 1.2 per million in 2007. Then the rate climbed to 1.8 per million in 2010.
Overall, men were more likely to take their lives than women. And older workers, those between the ages of 65 and 74, were more likely to commit suicide than their younger counterparts.
The study findings are being published by the American Journal of Preventive Medicine.
[For more of this story, written by Patti Neighmond, go to http://www.npr.org/blogs/healt...e-rates-rise-sharply]
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