美国国家公共电台 NPR U.S. Suicide Rates Are Rising Faster Among Women Than Men

 

DAVID GREENE, HOST:

The number of people dying by suicide in the United States is growing. Most of those deaths are men. But as NPR's Rhitu Chatterjee reports, a new study out today shows that rates among women are quickly climbing.

RHITU CHATTERJEE, BYLINE¹: Holly² Hedegaard is a medical epidemiologist. She says men are far more likely to die by suicide than women.

HOLLY HEDEGAARD: Typically, there's between three and four times as many suicides among males as among females.

CHATTERJEE: Hedegaard is at the National Center for Health Statistics and the author of the new study. She and her colleagues analyzed³ deaths by suicide from the year 2000 to 2016 and found that the rate among boys and men had grown by 21 percent, but for girls and women, it rose by 50 percent.

HEDEGAARD: There's sort of a narrowing of the gap in rates.

CHATTERJEE: That worries people like Nadine Kaslow, a psychologist at Emory University and the past president of the American Psychological Association.

NADINE KASLOW: To see that it was more than double than the amount for men did indeed surprise me.

CHATTERJEE: Kaslow says nobody knows exactly why more and more girls and women are taking their own lives. But she says stress is a well-known driving factor for all suicides.

KASLOW: People often die by suicide when they just feel totally overwhelmed.

CHATTERJEE: And she knows from her own practice and from previous studies that women today, especially middle-aged⁴ women, are facing increasing levels of stress at home and at work.

KASLOW: So they may be taking care of children, of parents, have work demands and then more responsibilities.

CHATTERJEE: Kaslow says there's also been a rise in the number of single-parent households headed by women. That means more women trying to do everything alone without any help.

KASLOW: And so there's sort of stress everywhere. They may not have time to take care of themselves, to be kind to themselves, to get the social support that they need.

CHATTERJEE: Social support can go a long way in preventing someone from trying to take their own life. Jill Harkavy-Friedman is the vice⁵ president of research at the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention. She says there needs to be a national effort to prevent suicide by improving access to mental health care, by reducing access to lethal⁶ means, like firearms, which remain the predominant method of suicide. But Harkavy-Friedman says we can all do our bit. Watch out for the warning signs among friends and family.

JILL HARKAVY-FRIEDMAN: If you notice something's changing, so if their mood is changing, maybe they're more irritable⁷ or withdrawn⁸ or maybe they are talking about being a burden.

CHATTERJEE: At times like these, it's important to let people know they're not alone.

HARKAVY-FRIEDMAN: I'm here for you. It sounds simple, but it does make a difference.

CHATTERJEE: Rhitu Chatterjee, NPR News.

(SOUNDBITE OF CHARLIE KEY'S "SONG FOR A")

1 byline   

n.署名；v.署名

参考例句：

• His byline was absent as well.他的署名也不见了。
• We wish to thank the author of this article which carries no byline.我们要感谢这篇文章的那位没有署名的作者。

2 holly   

n.[植]冬青属灌木

参考例句：

• I recently acquired some wood from a holly tree.最近我从一棵冬青树上弄了些木料。
• People often decorate their houses with holly at Christmas.人们总是在圣诞节时用冬青来装饰房屋。

3 analyzed   

v.分析( analyze的过去式和过去分词 )；分解；解释；对…进行心理分析

参考例句：

• The doctors analyzed the blood sample for anemia. 医生们分析了贫血的血样。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The young man did not analyze the process of his captivation and enrapturement, for love to him was a mystery and could not be analyzed. 这年轻人没有分析自己蛊惑著迷的过程，因为对他来说，爱是个不可分析的迷。 来自《简明英汉词典》

4 middle-aged   

adj.中年的

参考例句：

• I noticed two middle-aged passengers.我注意到两个中年乘客。
• The new skin balm was welcome by middle-aged women.这种新护肤香膏受到了中年妇女的欢迎。

5 vice   

n.坏事；恶习；[pl.]台钳，老虎钳；adj.副的

参考例句：

• He guarded himself against vice.他避免染上坏习惯。
• They are sunk in the depth of vice.他们堕入了罪恶的深渊。

6 lethal   

adj.致死的；毁灭性的

参考例句：

• A hammer can be a lethal weapon.铁锤可以是致命的武器。
• She took a lethal amount of poison and died.她服了致命剂量的毒药死了。

7 irritable   

adj.急躁的；过敏的；易怒的

参考例句：

• He gets irritable when he's got toothache.他牙一疼就很容易发脾气。
• Our teacher is an irritable old lady.She gets angry easily.我们的老师是位脾气急躁的老太太。她很容易生气。

8 withdrawn   

vt.收回；使退出；vi.撤退，退出

参考例句：

• Our force has been withdrawn from the danger area.我们的军队已从危险地区撤出。
• All foreign troops should be withdrawn to their own countries.一切外国军队都应撤回本国去。