Suicide Among Young New Jersey Adults
Uploaded by angelttt on Oct 31, 2011
This essay discusses the incidence of suicide among young people in New Jersey, with reference to the Healthy People 2010 federal guidelines.
I Introduction
Suicide is a difficult topic to consider; yet it must be faced because it is a major health concern. It is particularly puzzling among young people, presumably with much to live for.
This paper discusses suicide among young people ages 18-25 in New Jersey. It describes the prevalence of the issue in the state and the cost to society. It touches on disparities in rates among various target groups (culture, religion, gender, sexual orientation, etc.) and also discusses biophysical, psychological, environmental, and other risk factors. Finally, it relates these findings to the Healthy People documents now available on-line.
II Healthy People 2010
Healthy People 2010 is a series of U.S. government documents that outline a series of objectives that the government hopes to achieve with regard to improving the health of Americans. The documents were published in 2000 with a target date of 2010 to fulfill the tasks. The documents are extensive and somewhat difficult to navigate, since it appears that they have tried to devise strategies to meet every health care problem extant; a monumental task.
Objectives 18-1 and 18-2 are the ones that concern us, since they deal with suicide, though neither one directly discusses the age range 18-25. However, Objective 18-1 is: “Reduce the Suicide Rate,” and Objective 18-2 is: “Reduce the Rate of Suicide Attempts by Adolescents.” (Healthy People 2010 Objectives, 2000, PG). (Incidentally, these documents are extremely lengthy, and anything I quote is likely to be found in the same URL. It’s necessary to look at the table of contents or do a search to find the appropriate section.)
The documents reveal that for every 100,000 people, the suicide rate is 11.3. Broken down by race, the figures are: American Indian or Alaska Native, 12.6; Asian or Pacific Islander, 6.6; Black or African American; 5.8; White 12.2; Hispanic or Latino, 6.3. (They did not split off the data between Asians and Hawaiians/Other Pacific islanders.) By race, the figures are: not Hispanic or Latino 11.8; Black or African American, 6.0; White 12.8. Gender: female 4.3, male 19.2. Education level (people aged 25-64): less than high school, 17.9; high school graduate; 19.2; some college, 10. Age:...