Wisconsin gun deaths marked by suicides among rural men, study says. Nearly three of four gun deaths

[riversedge]

GUN DEATHS | STUDY FINDS RURAL MALES AT GREATER RISK


Wisconsin gun deaths marked by suicides among rural men, study says


https://www.democraticunderground.com/?com=post&forum=1084

DAVID WAHLBERG [e-mail] Dec 27, 2017



Nearly three of four gun deaths in Wisconsin are suicides, many among rural, white men ages 45 and older, a new study says.

The state’s proportion of firearm deaths that are suicides — 72 percent — is higher than the national average of 60 percent, according to the study by UW-Madison researchers in the Wisconsin Medical Journal.

Though the state’s overall rate of deaths from guns is lower than the national average, the rate has been on the rise in recent years.

Dr. John Frey, an author of the study, said the findings underscore a federal report last week showing that a surge in deaths from opioid overdoses, along with an uptick in suicides, led to the first two-year drop in life expectancy, in 2015 and 2016, since the early 1960s.

“We’re doing better at cancer and heart disease, at things that medicine can address,” said Frey, a UW professor emeritus of family medicine and medical editor of the Wisconsin Medical Journal. “But the society factors that affect length of life are getting worse.”

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From 2000 to 2014, Wisconsin had 6,966 deaths from guns, including 5,020 from suicide, 1,723 from homicide and 223 from other causes, including accidental shootings and police shootings...........................................

[bettyellen]

1. Its one of the heaviest drinking states, probably a lot of opioid abuse too. Thats going to fuck

up your life plenty, of it isn’t already.

[dembotoz]

2. Easy availability does not help