---
title: "Psych News Alert: Suicide Now Leading Cause of Injury Mortality"
description: Mortality rates for suicide rose substantially over the past decade, and suicide has passed motor-vehicle crashes as the leading cause of in...
image: https://alert.psychnews.org/hubfs/Imported_Blog_Media/shutterstock_56105848-Jun-24-2025-03-40-30-9580-PM.jpg
---

 6/24/24 11:16 AM

# Suicide Now Leading Cause of Injury Mortality

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Mortality rates for suicide rose substantially over the past decade, and suicide has passed motor-vehicle crashes as the leading cause of injury mortality, according to a report appearing yesterday in the *American Journal of Public Health*. Researchers at West Virginia University School of Public Health and other institutions used annual underlying cause-of-death data from the National Center for Health Statistics to describe national trends in fatal injury for 2000-2009.

Suicide ranked first as a cause of injury mortality, followed by motor-vehicle crashes, poisoning, falls, and homicide. (Good news from the study was that the unintentional motor-vehicle mortality rate declined 25 percent.) The researchers speculate that a steep increase in unintentional poisoning they found may be related to the epidemic of prescription drug abuse. They suggest that the suicide data point to a "global public-health problem" in that suicides have also surpasses motor-vehicle accident mortality in the European Union, Canada, and China. Read more about the study [here](http://ajph.aphapublications.org/doi/pdf/10.2105/AJPH.2012.300960) .

For information about suicide prevention, see *Psychiatric News* [here](http://psychnews.psychiatryonline.org/newsarticle.aspx?articleid=1356742). For a comprehensive review of the subject, see *[The American Psychiatric Publishing Textbook of Suicide Assessment and Management, Second Edition](http://www.appi.org/SearchCenter/Pages/SearchDetail.aspx?ItemId=62414).*

(image: kentoh/shutterstock.com)

[suicide](https://alert.psychnews.org/tag/suicide), [American Journal of Public Health](https://alert.psychnews.org/tag/american-journal-of-public-health), [unintentional and intentional injury](https://alert.psychnews.org/tag/unintentional-and-intentional-injury)

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## [Reaching Age at Which Parent Died by Suicide Increases Suicide Risk Among Offspring](https://alert.psychnews.org/2024/11/reaching-age-at-which-parent-died-by.html)

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 6/24/24 11:16 AM

[ Read more ](https://alert.psychnews.org/2024/11/reaching-age-at-which-parent-died-by.html)

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## [President Obama Signs Key Veterans' Mental HealthLaw](https://alert.psychnews.org/2015/02/president-obama-signs-key-veterans.html)

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 6/24/24 11:16 AM

President Barack Obama today signed into law the Clay Hunt Suicide Prevention for American Veterans...

[ Read more ](https://alert.psychnews.org/2015/02/president-obama-signs-key-veterans.html)

[![](https://alert.psychnews.org/hs-fs/hubfs/Imported_Blog_Media/older_couple_iStock-1029343092-Jun-24-2025-03-45-35-8975-PM.jpg?height=200&name=older_couple_iStock-1029343092-Jun-24-2025-03-45-35-8975-PM.jpg) ](https://alert.psychnews.org/2019/01/suicide-risk-factors-may-be-overlooked.html)

[suicide](https://alert.psychnews.org/tag/suicide), [veterans](https://alert.psychnews.org/tag/veterans), [collaborative care](https://alert.psychnews.org/tag/collaborative-care), [American Journal of Geriatric Psychiatry](https://alert.psychnews.org/tag/american-journal-of-geriatric-psychiatry), [older adults](https://alert.psychnews.org/tag/older-adults), [VA](https://alert.psychnews.org/tag/va), [Kelsey Simons](https://alert.psychnews.org/tag/kelsey-simons)

## [Suicide Risk Factors May Be Overlooked in Older Veterans, Study Suggests](https://alert.psychnews.org/2019/01/suicide-risk-factors-may-be-overlooked.html)

![Picture of Psychiatric News Alert](https://alert.psychnews.org/hs-fs/hubfs/Psych%20News%20Email%20Banners/PN-Blue-Box_rgb.png?width=50&name=PN-Blue-Box_rgb.png) [Psychiatric News Alert](https://alert.psychnews.org/author/psychiatric-news-alert) 

 6/24/24 11:16 AM

General health professionals may be missing key opportunities to assess suicidal risk and prevent...

[ Read more ](https://alert.psychnews.org/2019/01/suicide-risk-factors-may-be-overlooked.html)

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