More than 8 million Americans thought seriously about suicide in the previous year, according to a new government survey. More adults who considered suicide lived in the Midwest and West than in other parts of the country.
The study was based on responses from 92,264 people aged 18 or older who took part in the National Survey on Drug Use and Health in 2008-09. The survey
, which collects data on health risks related to drug, alcohol and tobacco use, as well as mental health, is conducted every year, but 2008 and 2009 were the first years in which all respondents — not just those who reported suffering from depression — were asked whether they had had serious thoughts about killing themselves at any point in the previous year.
Their answers reveal that suicidal thoughts and behavior vary widely by region. In general, adults in the West and Midwest were more likely to have considered suicide than people in the South and Northeast. Adults in Georgia, for instance, were least likely to report having had suicidal thoughts (2.1%) in 2008-09; residents of Utah, at 6.8%, were most likely.
Read more: http://healthland.time.com/2011/10/21/cdc-tracks-thoughts-of-suicide-in-adults-state-by-state/#ixzz1bQpJDdwG