Nearly twice as many people kill themselves than are killed by others in New Jersey, according to a new study. The state Department of Health and Senior Services report “Suicide in New Jersey, 1999-2000″ finds that suicides far outpace homicides in the Garden State.
In 2000, the most recent year for which statistics were available, there were 560 suicides committed in New Jersey, nearly double the 288 homicides for that year, according to crime statistics compiled by the New Jersey State Police.
So how come we spend so much more money on crimes and locking people up in overcrowded prisons, while something like suicide — which is preventable — outnumbers murders by a significant magnitude? Want to keep people alive? Provide better mental health care options.
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2 Comments to
“Study: N.J. suicides outnumber homicides”
Unfortunately, I wonder if the willingness to spend more on homocide investigation than on suicide prevention reflects an attitude that homocide victims as a group are more valuable than the mentally ill, who are the most likely to commit suicide. It seems to me that there is more going on than just the desire to keep people alive, but rather a value judgement regarding which people are worth keeping alive.
Are there more recent numbers concerning suicides in NJ? I am writing to the NJ legislaters and would like to site some numbers that are a bit more recent than this study. Any help you can give would be greatly appreciated.
Fran Gervasi
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Last reviewed: By John M. Grohol, Psy.D. on 28 May 2004
