Facts and Statistics

Facts:

At UM CAPS, 38% of students have thought about or considered suicide.

According to the first National College Health Risk Behavior Survey, 10.3% of respondents reported seriously considering attempting suicide, 6.7% had made a suicide plan, and 1.5% reported they had attempted suicide one or more times in the 12 months preceding the survey. This shows that suicidal behavior falls on a continuum. One aspect is suicidal ideation (thinking about death or killing one’s self), continues with planning and preparing for suicide, and ending with threatening, attempting, and completing suicide.

University of Michigan-Ann Arbor Suicide Statistics:

  • 26% students think about suicide to some degree
    • At-risk groups reported significantly greater suicidal thoughts (this is not an exhaustive list):
      • ​Transgender/gender-fluid gender identity 64%
      • Students with disability or disabilities 43%
      • Self reported GPA < 2.4: 47%
      • Financial Stress 37-40%
  • 67% reports sometimes feeling isolated and alone

National Statistics:

  • Suicide is the #2 leading cause of death for college students
  • Approximately 1,100 suicides on college campuses per year
  • 25% know of someone who has died as a result of suicide
  • 40% know of someone who has attempted
  • 0.6% of those 18 years and older attempted suicide. 7.5% of those 18-25 seriously considered suicide (American Foundation of Suicide Prevention, 2013)
  • 4.0% of the adult U.S. population reported having suicidal thoughts in the past year. 8.8% of those 18-25 year old seriously considered suicide, 2.9% of those 18-25 year old made a plan, and 1.8% of 18-25 year olds attempted. (National Survey on Drug Use and Health, 2016)

Given this information, we want you to know about the resources and help that is available to you or someone you know who has thoughts of suicide.