CDC: People Who Deny Being Suicidal Have Highest Risk of Being Suicided
CDC released today updated guidelines for how people can protect themselves from being suicided as well as how to spot the signs their friends and family may be suicidal. The new guidelines indicate a new approach for identifying suicide risk based on new data and research.
"Today's announcement reflects the progress we've made identifying suicide risk in the general population," said CDC Director Dr. Mandy Cohen. For decades mental health professionals asked patients if they were feeling depressed or having suicidal thoughts. If the patient told their practitioner they were feeling suicidal, or have felt suicidal in the past year, they were considered to be higher risk for being suicided. However, data collected in recent months has caused experts to shift their approach. "We've discovered that patients and individuals who say they are not suicidal, especially those who decide to publicly announce they would not ever kill themselves are actually the highest risk for being suicided", Dr. Cohen explained.
Data gathered from social media platforms X, TikTok, and Instagram suggest over 50% of people under age 30 posted about wanting to kill themselves. Computer algorithms used to collect the data were unable to differentiate between irony, sarcasm, and genuine expressions of suicidal thoughts but experts say those distinctions aren't helpful. However, those who have posted or been subject to news headlines where they've been quoted saying they are not suicidal, were 1500% more likely to be suicided.
High pressure work environments such as Boeing manufacturing employees, political careers close to high ranking Democrats such as the Kennedy's or the Clintons, and stress from knowing insider information about illegal activity taking place inside financial institutions and defense contractors were key contributing factors to increased suicides.
The CDC says there are no surefire solutions except for avoiding telling others you are not suicidal. "The correlation between saying it out loud of posting it publicly online is undeniable. Until more research can be performed, we advise people to avoid telling or posting about your desire to live. It may even be advisable to say you ARE thinking about killing yourself, even if you're not, just to be safe." Cohen conceded.
