Some recent research suggests the primary factor is "residential instability":

"Put another way, the very traits associated with the West (and romanticized in American culture)—individualism and independence, stoicism and solitude—may also have deeply negative implications for its people."

http://www.rwjf.org/en/about-rwjf/newsroom/newsroom-content/...

Thanks for the link.

"They also guessed that the West's low population density might play a role in its high suicide rates, but the findings did not bear that out."

For others who don't read the article, residential instability is their suggestion leading to lessened social integration.

In Alaska, there are a number of factors that contribute to a high suicide rate. The time of contact between Alaska Natives and others was much more recent in Alaska than elsewhere in the US. That contact brought with it a number of issues:

- disease: Flu and smallpox epidemics wiped out more than half the population in many villages. This was a traumatic event, that left many young people disconnected from their families and cultural groups.

- cultural suppression: Initial contact with Native groups often involved missionaries. While a few missionaries added to an existing culture without taking anything away, most missionary groups came in and told the Native population that their ways were of the devil, and they needed to drop what they were doing and take on Christian traditions. These efforts contributed to severe disconnects between generations.

- introduction of alcohol and other drugs: Combined with all of the other issues that led to young people feeling isolated, alone, and depressed, alcohol and other drugs have had devastating effects on villages, and on urban areas as well.

These are complex issues, and not issues that everyone feels comfortable talking about. They are issues I had no idea existed before I moved to Alaska. That's a really brief overview, but I'm happy to expand on any of those if anyone has any questions.

Availability of means to take one's life surely matters too in those states with higher suicide rates. The intermountain west is a place where everyone has access to firearms. In fact, I remember from a few months ago that there was a National Public Radio report about just that issue in connection with youth suicide in Wyoming.

http://www.npr.org/2013/03/19/174761612/a-turning-point-for-...

Most of the intermountain west is very arid, so rather than "farming" as that is usually understood, the occupation tends to be ranching (keeping cattle).

About the leading causes of death, they tend to correlate strongly with poverty, and it's not surprising to find high rates in poorer rather than richer states.

Access to firearms may play some part, but the rates of death due to firearm injury is high in the South which has relatively low suicide rates.

Perhaps religious/cultural attitudes play a part? That wouldn't account for Utah though.

Interestingly Alaska has the highest death rate by Firearms. Anyone can propose a rationale for that?

Guns are pretty useful in remote areas inhabited by large, aggressive animals.

Are you saying it's more likely to commit suicide just because you own a gun ?

According to the Harvard Injury Control Research Center, there is some risk, particularly when considering younger demographics.

"The preponderance of current evidence indicates that gun availability is a risk factor for youth suicide in the United States. The evidence that gun availability increases the suicide rates of adults is credible, but is currently less compelling." [1]

There's a lot of good additional data in the original report. According to the table on page 40 [2], self-harm by firearm represented 19,392 of 38,364 suicides. This dwarfed the number of gun-related homicides which was 11,078.

Page 83 explores death by intent. Interestingly, there's also a category for legal intervention/war which represented 344 of all firearm deaths.

[1] http://www.hsph.harvard.edu/hicrc/firearms-research/gun-owne...

[2] http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/nvsr/nvsr61/nvsr61_04.pdf

Suicide by firearm is more likely to succeed than suicide by other methods (for instance poisoning). Per the American Association of Suicidology, "if a gun is used to attempt suicide, a fatal outcome will result 78% to 90% of the time."[1] Suffocation is also very likely to succeed but poisoning results in death less than 5% of the time and falls about 25% of the time.[2] One can make an impulsive decision to commit suicide with a gun while other methods (for instance hanging) may take considerably more thought and preparation. Suicide by firearm seems to be particularly problematic for youth.

[1] - [http://www.suicidology.org/c/document_library/get_file?folde...]

[2] - http://www.cdc.gov/violenceprevention/suicide/statistics/cas...

Good point, thank you. Is there any data on suicide attempts per state, then, available anywhere online ? Are suicide attempts even recorded officially ?

in addition to your other replies, I think it's worth pointing out that in Canada the native populations have an elevated suicide rate. It wouldn't be at all surprising for that to be true in Alaska too.

Social isolation? Three of the bluest states are Ca, Ny, Il, with the biggest cities.

Could be.

This suggests that farmers are concentrated in a central strip: http://www.slate.com/articles/technology/future_tense/2012/0...

The map top right here indicates correlation with population density, as you suggested: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_U.S._states_by_populati...

And the first map on this US history page suggests those areas were late to the state party. Would that have had a strong impact? http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_the_United_States_(1...

Alaska and Nevada have some of the highest rates of suicide, but those areas are not suitable for farming. Another article posted earlier in this thread indicates population density isn't a factor, and the map seems to show that as well (Nebraska and Minnesota have low suicide rates and low density). Date of statehood is nothing more than a coincidence.