Professions with the highest suicide rates in America pose an interesting question. Are there extremely poor working conditions prevalent in these occupations that ultimately cause their workers to take their own lives or is it just a coincidence that people who commit suicide happen to be in a select few professions more than others?
Well, I’d say that I lean towards the first option. I feel that since your job takes up so much of your time (more than 8 hours a day for most), your otherwise deteriorated mental state may well improve if you’re satisfied with your job. If you’re not, you’d likely feel bleaker than ever. And job satisfaction, for the most part, comes from good working conditions. Of course, I certainly don’t claim to be an expert so if you are having suicidal thoughts, get help! I cannot stress that enough. There is help out there for you. Even if you are part of one of the occupations in the United States with the highest incidence of suicide, things are never hopeless and you deserve better than the horrible fate of suicide.
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But like I said before, your job plays a huge part in making you feel the exact opposite, so much so that some unfortunate people actually commit the act at their workplace. The Atlantic reports that such suicides have been on the rise and while they generally increase during economic recessions, some people just do it to save their family from stumbling upon the grisly sight.
You see, as The Atlantic also notes, it is always hard to pinpoint one concise reason for a person committing suicide. So the question I posed above becomes even more difficult to answer. Are jobs with the most suicides inherently bad jobs? Are professions with the highest depression rates, or professions with the highest divorce rates, or professions with the highest alcoholism rates for that matter ingrained with qualities that lead to unfortunate circumstances? Well if you look at the 11 Professions with the Highest Suicide Rates in Australia, the items on that list do coincide with some on our list. Does that mean it’s not just poor working conditions prevalent in the US that have caused these occupations to be flagged as such, but some issues with the job itself? I’ll need more data to expound on that but let’s note that America makes an appearance on the 10 Countries with the Highest Youth Suicide Rates in the World while Australia does not.
Moving on, let me tell you how I compiled the highest suicidal job rates 2017. I referred to this federal study carried out by the Center for Disease Control and Prevention released in July 2016. Unfortunately, the data used in the study pertains to 2012 which is admittedly a little old, but it is the latest available so we will have to make do. For the ranking, we took into account the rates of suicide per 100,000 population rather than the absolute number of suicides. As the study only analyzes data from 17 states, the rate is much more appropriate as it can be prorated to calculate data for the entire country, something the number of suicides cannot achieve. Furthermore, data has been divided by occupational group, and if that confuses you, you can always head on over to the Bureau of Labor Statistics to find out exactly what jobs each occupational group entails. Now without further ado, let’s finally list what appear to be professions with the highest suicide rates in America.
15. Healthcare Support
Rate of suicide per 100,000 population: 14.6
While our list begins with healthcare support occupations, let me just say that the suicide rate here is actually not very high, even reasonable, when compared to the ones that topped this list. Nevertheless, we shouldn’t get too complacent as even a single suicide is an extremely traumatic experience and a huge blow for the person who experiences it as well as his or her family.
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14. Business and Financial Operations
Rate of suicide per 100,000 population: 15.9
Among business and financial operations occupations, the female and male suicide rates are actually quite close to each other. Granted they are still 10.3 and 20.4 respectively but for all other professions on our list of professions with the highest suicide rates in America, this gap is much more pronounced.
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13. Life, Physical and Social Science
Rate of suicide per 100,000 population: 16.7
Scientists of all kinds come next. This occupational group only contributed 0.7% of the total suicides in the 17 states examined, but its per capita rate is worrisome landing it the 13th spot on our list of professions with the highest suicide rates in America.
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12. Healthcare Practitioners
Rate of suicide per 100,000 population: 17.4
Doctors and all related technicians don’t seem too happy with their jobs either. It’s not exactly news that medical specialists and the like have extremely tough working hours and highly stressful jobs but the high suicide rate is not common knowledge. It should be though. Awareness is the first step towards improvement.
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11. Legal
Rate of suicide per 100,000 population: 18.8
Like doctors, lawyers and other legal professionals have to endure excessive stress in their everyday lives, which could be a major reason for the unfortunate fact that 18.8 lawyers per 100,000 of them commit suicide.
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10. Management
Rate of suicide per 100,000 population: 20.3
Even top line managers and chief executives fall victim to suicide. Again, the stress of responsibility might play a role in the situation, which shows the male suicide rate to be 27.4 and that of females 8.4.
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9. Transportation and Material Moving
Rate of suicide per 100,000 population: 22.3
With a considerable difference between male and female suicide rates, transportation and material moving occupations come next on our list of professions with the highest suicide rates in America. The male suicide rate stands at 30.2 and the female one at 4.8.
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8. Computer and Mathematical
Rate of suicide per 100,000 population: 23.3
Number 8 on our list of professions with the highest suicide rates in America are computer and mathematical occupations. Stereotyped to be the non-social types, these professionals need to work on their mental health if they expect to see the suicide rate go down as soon as possible.
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7. Arts, Design, Entertainment, Sports and Media
Rate of suicide per 100,000 population: 24.3
You would think arts and media-related occupations would land at the number one spot on such a list or at least close to the top, but they are surprisingly much lower than I expected. Maybe it’s just the fact that suicides of famous people are publicized much more than “ordinary” suicides which make us believe they occur more often than they do. Don’t get me wrong though, 24.3 people from a 100,000 is still quite a big number and needs to be lessened.
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6. Protective Service
Rate of suicide per 100,000 population: 30.5
This is the group where people like policemen, detectives, and firefighters fall. Surprisingly (or maybe not), protective service occupations hold the highest rate of suicide for females, with the number standing at 14.1, which is still lower than the overall rate of any other profession on our list.
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And now, let’s see top five professions with the highest suicide rates in America.
5. Architecture and Engineering
Rate of suicide per 100,000 population: 32.2
While architects and engineers hold a very esteemed position in society, their suicide rate indicates that they may not be too satisfied with the job itself. Again, as I mentioned in the introduction, reasons for a large number of suicides cannot be accurately determined. However, that does not negate the fact that architecture and engineering occupations hold quite a high spot on our list of jobs with the highest suicide rates in America.
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4. Production
Rate of suicide per 100,000 population: 34.5
The production field is an extremely broad one: it could include someone working in the textile sector to someone working in the food processing sector. This means it has thousands and thousands of people employed within it and a high rate of suicide could result in the loss of numerous people. Needless to say, it’s highly important to correct this situation.
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3. Installation, Maintenance and Repair
Rate of suicide per 100,000 population: 47.9
Going into the installation, maintenance, and repair, we suddenly jump to a significantly higher suicide rate than all the previous spots. Almost the entire rate of suicide for this occupational group comes from male suicides. Then again, not many women work as mechanics in the country. Nevertheless, installation, maintenance, and repair have found itself on number 3 among the professions with the highest suicide rates in America.
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2. Construction and Extraction
Rate of suicide per 100,000 population: 53.3
Construction and extraction jobs are often regarded as quite risky due to the dangers of fatal injuries (and sometimes even death) involved. However, the horror that is often not taken into account is that of the high number of suicides that occur among such workers, indicating that the working conditions may be unbearable for several of them.
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1. Farming, Fishing and Forestry
Rate of suicide per 100,000 population: 84.5
Number one on our list of professions with the highest suicide rates in America are farmers, fishers, and foresters, who in this hastily industrializing world have more than enough problems to be going on with. The female suicide rate is negligible while the corresponding number for males stands at a whopping 90.5, the highest by far compared to any other profession.
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