*There were 31,655 suicides in 2002 (most recent year data is available); about 1 suicide every 16.6 minutes, with 11 of every 100,000 Americans killing themselves.

*Suicide rates usually decrease in times of war and increase in times of economic crisis.

*Spring and Mondays consistently rank highest in the number of suicides.

*Suicide rates are highest among the divorced and widowed.

*Suicide is the 11th leading cause of death in the United States.

*White suicide rates are approximately twice those of nonwhites as a whole. Whites attempt at rates of about 12.2 per 100,000, while nonwhites commit at rates of 5.5 per 100,000.

*Native Americans (American Indians) are the racial/ethnic group with the highest suicide rates overall, but great tribal differences exist.

*Firearms are currently the most often utilized method of suicide by essentially all groups (e.g. males, females, young, old, white, nonwhite) and the rates are increasing.

*Nearly 54% of all completed suicides are committed with firearms or explosives. Another 18% involve the use of poisons (including lethal overdoses). Over 15% are carried out through hanging, strangulation, or suffocation.

*The elderly made up 12.3% of the 2002 population but represented 17.5% of the completed suicides.

*Although there are no official statistics on attempted (i.e. nonfatal actions) suicide, it is estimated that there are at least 25 attempts for each death by suicide.

*Risk of attempted suicide is greatest among females and the young. Females have generally been found to make 3 to 4 times as many attempts as males. Estimates of the ratio of young attempted suicides to suicidal deaths have generally ranged between 100 to 1 and 200 to 1.

*Mental health diagnoses are generally associated with higher risk of suicide. Groups/diagnoses at particular risk are the depressed, schizophrenics, alcoholics, and those with bi-polar disorder (manic-depressive).

*Feelings of hopelessness (e.g. "there are no solutions to my problems") are found to be more predictive of suicide risk than diagnoses of depression.

*The socially isolated are generally found to be at higher risk of suicide.

*Most individuals who are thinking about suicide display some warning signs.

*The vast majority of those who attempt suicide are not totally determined to die. They are overwhelmed by their problems and see no other way to end the pain they feel inside.

*In many cases the person will attempt suicide while someone else is nearby or is expected soon. This is because the person, at some level, hopes that someone will be able to save them.