Embargoed
until Tuesday,
December 17
at 10:00 AM ET
ISSUE
BRIEF
APRIL
2018
The Rising Problem of Despair
In 2016, 142,000 Americans died from alcohol-induced fatalities, drug
overdoses and suicide—one every four minutes. These "deaths of
despair" have become a full-blown public health crisis as the number
of Americans who died each year from the trio of causes has escalated
at an alarming pace over the last decade.
1
Although these deaths are
mostly among adults, children are also dying from these same diseases
of despair, and many more are suffering second-hand as adults and
caregivers around them struggle with, and some die, from the alcohol,
drug and suicide epidemics.
2,3
Pain in the Nation:
Education Brief
HOW THE EDUCATION SECTOR CAN HELP ADDRESS THE
ALCOHOL, DRUG AND SUICIDE CRISES
0
10,000
20,000
30,000
40,000
50,000
60,000
70,000
80,000
90,000
100,000
110,000
120,000
130,000
140,000
150,000
1999
2000
2001
2002
2003 2004
2005
2006
2007
2008
2009
2010
2011
2012
2013
2014
2015
2016
Total Deaths Alcohol Deaths Suicide Deaths Drug Deaths
64,591
91,349
141,963
127,524
Annual Deaths from Alcohol, Drugs and Suicide, 1999-2016
Source: CDC WONDER
