patrick.net

The news that 52-year-old Seattle grunge rock icon Chris Cornell had killed himself after a concert in Detroit shocked and saddened fans of the Soundgarden frontman.

But perhaps even more shocking is the fact that Cornell was scores of middle-aged American men who took their own lives on Wednesday: 121 Americans die by suicide each day, according to the Centers for Disease Control — and 93 of them are men. (The Wayne County medical examiner's office declared Cornell's death a suicide by hanging; Cornell's wife has disputed that ruling and suggested her late husband's anti-anxiety medication may have played a role.)

In fact, American men make up the bulk of suicides nationwide. Victims of death by suicide are overwhelmingly white (7 out of 10), male and — just like Cornell — between the ages of 45 and 65.

Middle-aged male suicide is a silent crisis, one that experts say often comes as a surprise to loved ones who typically do not see signs of mental health struggles until it's too late.

"Men notoriously don't seek help," said Julie Cerel, president of the American Association of Suicidology and a professor at the University of Kentucky School of Social Work. "And as people are aging and at a place in their lives where the world isn't looking the way they want, men especially don't know how to reach out and get help or express that they're feeling pain."

http://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/it-s-not-just-chris-cornell-suicide-rates-highest-among-n762221

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