Why Is This Important?

Suicide was the 12th leading cause of death among Americans and 15th among New Jerseyans in 2020. The average annual suicide count among New Jersey residents is about 740 and there are about twice as many suicides as homicides in the state.

Definition

Deaths with suicide as the underlying cause. ICD-10 codes: X60-X84, Y87.0

Data Sources

• Death Certificate Database, Office of Vital Statistics and Registry, New Jersey Department of Health
  (https://www.nj.gov/health/vital/)
• Population Estimates, State Data Center, New Jersey Department of Labor and Workforce Development
  (https://www.nj.gov/labor/labormarketinformation/demographics/population-household-estimates/)
• Underlying Cause of Death, CDC WONDER On-line Database, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
  (https://wonder.cdc.gov/Deaths-by-Underlying-Cause.html)

How the Measure is Calculated

How Are We Doing?

Suicide increased in New Jersey between 2005 and 2017 before declining each year from 2018 through 2020. However, the Healthy New Jersey 2020 target was not achieved.

The majority (57%) of suicides are White males and the age-adjusted death rate among this group is at least 1.8 times that of other racial/ethnic/sex groups. County rates per 100,000 population (age-adjusted) in 2018-2020 ranged from 5.6 in Passaic to 11.3 in Atlantic.

How Do We Compare With the U.S.?

New Jersey's age-adjusted suicide rate is the second lowest in the nation, after D.C., and is consistently well below the national rate.

What Is Being Done?

In 2013, the NJ Hopeline Call Center was launched to serve as a backup to the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline network during times of excess call volume or after the Lifeline Crisis Centers' operating hours.

The New Jersey Strategy for Youth Suicide Prevention 2015 was developed by community partners and the New Jersey Youth Suicide Prevention Advisory Council to guide the State's efforts to prevent youth suicides and the Adult Suicide Prevention Plan 2014-2017 from the NJ Division of Mental Health and Addiction Services contains strategies and actions in addition to crisis responses for the specific concerns related to adult suicide. The next Adult Suicide Prevention Plan 2018-2023 is nearly finalized, and features the Zero Suicide Initiative.

The Governor's Study Commission on Violence released a report of recommendations to the Governor on ways to combat all types of violence from a public health perspective in October, 2015.

The New Jersey Department of Health maintains the New Jersey Violent Death Reporting System (NJVDRS), a CDC-funded surveillance system that tracks suicides, homicides, unintentional firearm deaths, injury deaths of undetermined intent, and deaths by legal intervention and is used to educate public health and public safety professionals in the state and inform their interventions and decision-making, with the ultimate goal of reducing the incidence of violent deaths. NJVDRS is part of the National Violent Death Reporting System.

Available Services

NJ Hopeline: 1-855-654-6735 or Online Chat

National Suicide Prevention Lifeline: Dial 988 or Online Chat

NJ Division of Mental Health and Addiction Services Hotlines

More Resources

Suicide Prevention Resource Center: http://www.sprc.org/states/new-jersey

New Jersey Youth Suicide Prevention: https://www.state.nj.us/dcf/adolescent/prevention/

CDC Suicide Prevention Info: https://www.cdc.gov/suicide/index.html

NJ Governor's Study Commission on Violence Report: http://nj.gov/oag/newsreleases15/pr20151013a.html

New Jersey Violent Death Reporting System: http://www.nj.gov/health/chs/njvdrs/