Suicides reached record levels last year with 50,000 Americans taking their own life and experts say the pandemic, social media and access to guns are to blame

Suicides in America surged to record highs last year – reaching almost 50,000.

Newly released data from the National Center for Health Statistics shows 1,266 more people killed themselves in 2022, compared to 2021 – a rise of three percent.

And since 2014, suicides have lept by 16 percent.

What’s more, the agency said the final, most recent count is likely be higher as death information is reviewed.

The data, which comes from death certificates, suggests that suicides are now more common in the US than they have been at any time since World War II.

The new data shows that suicides also rose between 2020 and 2021, jumping by more than 1,000. 

Newly released data from the National Center for Health Statistics shows 1,266 more people killed themselves in 2022, compared to 2021 – a rise of three percent

For men aged 10-30, suicide is the second leading cause of death behind unintentional deaths, including drug overdoses

Suicide is now the eleventh-leading cause of death in the US. 

But among 10-14 year olds and 25-34 year-olds, suicide is the second leading cause of death, behind unintentional injuries such as accidental drug overdoses.

Experts say one reason for the recent year-on-year rises is indicative of the nation’s plummeting mental health following the pandemic, which left many grieving, isolated and anxious.

They said the rise of social media has also played a part, which leads to  comparisons that are damaging to mental health and leaves people feeling like they are not good enough.

Other factors providing a breeding ground for mental illness include the rising cost of living, along with stagnant salaries.

A 2020 study found that people who experience financial stress are 20 times more likely to attempt suicide than those who do not. 

An ongoing shortage of healthcare workers is likely at play, too.

Roughly half of Americans live in an area without a mental health professional, federal data shows, and 8,500 more are needed to fix the gap.

Experts have also flagged the increasing supply of addictive opioid drugs, such as fentanyl and heroin.

Addictions can both trigger and worsen mental health problems, according to studies.

A study from 2020 found that nearly 92,000 people died from drug overdoses overall in the US in that year, with around 8,000 of these recorded as intentional.

Easy access to guns have also contributed to astonishing rise.

The US has long been under fire for its growing number of gun deaths, which experts believe could contribute to the amount of suicides. 

A 2022 study in the New England Journal of Medicine found that in 2020, the US had a record number of 45,222 firearm deaths.

Recent official data shows that in 2021, more than half (54 percent) of gun-related deaths in the US were suicides. 

Jill Harkavy-Friedman, senior vice president of research at the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention, said: ‘I don’t know if you can talk about suicide without talking about firearms.’

The data also revealed some interesting trends regarding the demographic of those most vulnerable to suicide. 

Men aged 75 and older had the highest suicide rate last year at almost 44 per 100,000 people – double the figure for those aged 15-24.

Although women are more likely to experience suicidal thoughts more often, men are four times more likely to complete suicide.

American Indians and Alaska Natives are also almost double the rates for other Americans.

The suicide rate for children 10-14 and 15-24 declined by 18 percent and nine percent, last year from 2021, which brought the levels back to pre-pandemic.

However, women aged 25-34 were the only group of women for whom suicide rates significantly increased in 2022.

The suicide rate fell slightly in 2019 and dropped again in 2020, during the first year of the Covid pandemic. 

Some experts tied that to a phenomenon seen in the early stages of wars and natural disasters, when people pull together and support each other.