This past week marked a couple of important — and sadly related — observances for those of us in the behavioral health community. Aug. 31 was International Drug Overdose Awareness Day and Sept. 1 is the beginning of National Suicide Awareness Month. These annual observances too often have more in common than timing.
While we know drug overdoses have been at record levels for years, recent data released from the CDC suggest Americans are also dying by suicide at higher rates than ever before — and Floridians are committing suicide at higher rates than the national average. This new data from 2022 makes suicide among the top 10 leading causes of death in our state for the first time.
