Firearms used in a minority of suicide attempts, but are the most fatal method

A new study finds that even though firearms are used in fewer than 10% of suicide attempts, they are responsible for almost all suicide deaths. Here’s more: 

• The study: Researchers looked at CDC data from nearly 310,000 suicides and more than 3 million suicide attempts that required hospitalization or emergency department visits between 2007 and 2014.  
• The findings: Fewer than 9% of suicide attempts were fatal. Drug poisoning accounted for nearly 60% of attempts, but resulted in 14% of deaths. At the same time, firearms were used in fewer than 8% of attempts, but had an almost 90% fatality rate. 
• Other trends: Males were more likely to die by suicide than females, and those aged 65 and older were also more likely to die by suicide than younger people.