Mental Illness and Violent Death
Major Issues for Public Health
- Thomas B. Cole, MD, MPH;
- Richard M. Glass, MD
- Author Affiliations: Dr Cole is Contributing Editor (tbcole@bellsouth.net) and Dr Glass is Deputy Editor, JAMA.
Since this article does not have an abstract, we have provided the first 150 words of the full text.
- KEYWORDS:
- HOMICIDE
- MENTAL HEALTH
- SUICIDE
Suicide and homicide are the fourth and fifth leading causes of death for persons aged 10 to 60 years in the United States.1 Suicide completion and homicide perpetration are associated with previous attempts at self-harm2 or violence toward others,3 and both of these predominant causes of violent death are associated with mental illness.
In 2002 there were 31 655 suicide deaths in the United States for a rate of 10.99 per 100 000 population.1 Persons who attempt suicide are 38 to 40 times as likely to commit suicide as are persons without previous attempts.4 The population-based National Comorbidity Survey Replication, conducted in 2001-2003,5 reported that 3.3% of US residents aged 18 to 54 years had seriously thought about killing themselves in the past 12 months. Of this group, 28.6% made a plan to kill themselves and 32.8% of those who made a plan carried out a …
