1M Americans Attempt Suicide a Year: CDC

Agency conducts first-of-its kind study
By Dustin Lushing,  Newser Staff
Posted Oct 21, 2011 1:00 PM CDT
1M Americans Attempt Suicide a Year: CDC
About 35,000 Americans commit suicide yearly.   (Shutterstock)

An estimated 8 million adults in the United States contemplated suicide over the course of one year, while 2 million formed plans to take their own lives and 1 million actually made the attempt, according to a new federal study. The most likely groups to consider suicide were women, Caucasians, and people under 30. The survey was conducted by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention using data from 2008-2009.

One in 15 adults in Utah reported suicidal thoughts, the highest in the nation, while one in 50 reported suicidal thoughts in Georgia, the lowest. "We are trying to find out where the most vulnerable populations are," explains a CDC epidemiologist. Every year, around 35,000 Americans kill themselves, according to Reuters, meaning the vast majority of attempts are unsuccessful. (More suicide stories.)

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