In 2015, Anne Case and Angus Deaton showed that increases in drug and alcohol poisonings, suicides, and alcohol-related liver disease between 1999-2013 had caused the overall mortality of middle-aged White Americans to increase, after decades of decreases.
We revisit the data and find that this tragic phenomenon is no longer specific to White Americans. Middle-aged Black Americans in particular have suffered unsettlingly high increases in these types of deaths.
Explore the singular toll of these deaths of despairs across different demographic groups using the buttons and figures below. Each figure shows the number of deaths per 100,000 people between 2009 and 2019.
If you or someone you know are in distress, please call the
National Suicide Prevention Lifeline (Lifeline) at
1-800-273-TALK (8255), or text the Crisis Text Line (text HELLO to 741741).