Monnat Comments on Increase in US Suicide Rates in Grid Article

October 14, 2022

Grid

Shannon Monnat

Sociology Department

Aging Studies Institute

Center for Policy Research

Lerner Center for Public Health Promotion and Population Health

COVID-19

Health Policy

Mental Health

United States

Grid

Shannon Monnat

Suicide in the U.S. increased in 2021 said federal health officials in September. The increase, which reinforces a long-term trend, comes after two years of declines amid the global covid pandemic.

“There might be a small drop in one or two years, but the long-term trend has been an increase,” says Shannon Monnat, professor of sociology and Lerner Chair in Public Health Promotion and Population Health. The key question this raises is “what is it about the U.S. context that makes so many people not want to live,” she says. “And what is it about our context that is driving that number higher?”