HealthDay (8/1, Mundell) reported a study suggests that when a community’s homicide rates rise, “there’s typically a local uptick in suicides a year later.” The researchers “tracked 50 years’ worth of data – from 1968 through 2019 – for homicides and suicides in counties across 48 U.S. states. The main finding: A one-point rise in homicides in a county during one year was linked to an average 3.6% rise in suicides the following year.” Moreover, the trend intensified when homicides and suicides were due to “a gun: A one-point rise in gun-related killings was linked to a 5.7% rise in gun-related suicides the following year. The murder-suicide link was more pronounced in rural versus urban communities, and among white people versus Black Americans, although Black Americans were not unaffected, the researchers said.” The study was published in Social Science & Medicine.
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— “When Local Homicide Rates Rise, Suicides Rise Soon After,”Ernie Mundell , HealthDay, August 1, 2025