Implications of ‘Zero Suicide’ for Suicide Prevention Research

Over the past 2 decades, deaths by suicide have increased by 30%. In 2016, more than 45 000 people died by suicide in the United States, making suicide the second-leading cause of death among individuals aged 10 to 34 years. The causes of this increase are manifold: a fragmented mental health care system, the opioid addiction epidemic, unregulated handgun ownership, and posttraumatic stress and other mental illnesses experienced by veterans, who die by suicide at higher rates than the general population.