Visualizing Public Health: Suicide Rates

Suicide is most commonly seen between ages of 15-24. Depression, bullying, and insecurities lead
to this traumatizing action. Most of the time families dont even realize that their loved one is
losing hope. E
very 40 seconds someone commits suicide. Furthermore, it is also estimated that
over one million people take their own lives per year.
About 411 youths committed suicide in
California in 2012, which has increased since then.
The number of those who commit suicide is
expected to exceed one and a half million people within the next six years.
Research Questions
Is suicide most commonly committed between certain races and ethnicities?
Is suicide more common between females or males?
Essential Question
How can this affect younger generations, and what can we do to prevent suicide rates from
dramatically increasing yearly.

Southern California Counties Suicide Rates per Gender

Counties

Female

Male

Total

San Luis Obispo County

Kern County

11

12

San Bernardino County

24

26

Santa Barbara County

Ventura County

10

Los Angeles County

25

54

79

Orange County

20

29

Riverside County

28

34

San Diego County

12

28

40

Imperial County

Southern California Counties Suicide Rates per Race and Ethnicity

Counties

Black

Alaska
Native

Pacific
Islander

Hispanic

White

Multiracial

Total

San Luis Obispo

County

Kern County

San Bernardino County

12

12

26

Santa Barbara County

Ventura County

10

Los Angeles County

10

12

37

18

79

Orange County

13

29

Riverside County

16

12

34

San Diego County

11

18

40

Imperial County

Graphs:

Key Findings
One of the most shocking things about suicide rates are that males are more likely to commit
suicide than women. Many would expect that females are most likely to because of society's
expectations for the ideal perfect women, which can likely lead to stress, insecurities, depression,
and soon enough to suicide. However men suicides is 3 times more than women. This shows men
are most likely to become depress and not realize or accept it before its too late.
Men, regardless
of age group, often don't recognise when they are depressed. Depression in men is likely to be
signalled by anger, so won't be recognised either by men themselves or by women as depression.
Ironically, they may end up in jail rather than a GP's surgery. For a man to ask for help is seen as
failure, because by convention men are supposed to be in control at all times.
Another shocking thing about these suicide rates are that white males and females are most likely
commit suicide. However, it does not really have anything to do with race, but with culture.
Different cultures are great, but it turns out that having a family structure gives you something to
fall back on whereas living individually where you hold a lot of responsibility for your life means
often you are left out on your own and if you fail, you are more likely to take it harder because
you believe there is something wrong with you. It is possible that white cultures can be a large
effect on both females and females which then cause them to have a major break down which
then leads to suicide.

Recommendations

A person who with suicidal thoughts may not ask for help, but that doesn't mean that help isn't
wanted. Most people who commit suicide don't want to die they just want to stop hurting. Suicide
prevention starts with recognizing the warning signs. If you think a friend or family member is
considering suicide, you might be afraid to bring up the subject. But talking openly about suicidal
thoughts and feelings can save a life.
Suicide Warning Signs:

Talking about wanting to die or to kill themselves.

Looking for a way to kill themselves, such as searching online or buying a gun
Talking about feeling hopeless or having no reason to live.
Talking about feeling trapped or in unbearable pain.
Talking about being a burden to others.
Increasing the use of alcohol or drugs.
Acting anxious or agitated; behaving recklessly.
Sleeping too little or too much.
Withdrawing or isolating themselves.
Showing rage or talking about seeking revenge.
Displaying extreme mood swings.

References
http://www.kidsdata.org/search/#q/suicide
http://dailybruin.com/2013/01/14/ucla-study-reveals-suicide-rates-in-california/
http://www.hsccs.org/poc/view_doc.php?type=doc&id=13737
https://www.afsp.org/understanding-suicide/facts-and-figures
http://www.save.org/index.cfm?fuseaction=home.viewPage&page_id=705D5DF4-055B-F1EC-3F
66462866FCB4E6
Limitations
I wanted to find suicide rates involving the cause and/or reason it was committed. Of course, that
could of led to more personal, and explicit information that could not be found on the internet.
Although I did find some information based on this concept, it was not enough for be to go deeper
into.
Author
Mayra Fajardo