Celebrity suicides highlight troubling trend in midlife

Mental health issues often going undiagnosed, campaigners say

CHICAGO－The deaths of celebrity chef Anthony Bourdain and fashion designer Kate Spade highlight a troubling trend rising suicides among middle-aged people in the United States.

Mental health problems, often undiagnosed, are usually involved and experts say knowing warning signs and who is at risk can help stop a crisis from becoming a tragedy.

Bourdain, 61, and Spade, 55, died three days and a continent apart this week amid a new report showing an uptick in suicides rates in nearly every state since 1999. Middle-aged adults ages 45 to 64 had the largest rate increase, according to the report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Previous studies have suggested economic downturns and the nation's opioid crisis contributed to the rise in middle-aged suicides.

Christine Moutier, a psychiatrist and chief medical officer for the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention, said on Friday it's important for everyone to know the warning signs and to intervene when family members, friends or co-workers appear troubled.

Asking if they've had suicidal thoughts is not harmful and lets them know you care, she said.

This week's report found that many suicides were in people with no known mental illness. But Joshua Gordon, director of the National Institute of Mental Health, said that contradicts years of data, suggesting many have "gone undiagnosed and untreated. It's very troubling".

Gordon said doctors need to ask patients at every opportunity about their mental health and evaluate their risk for suicide.

"When you ask everybody and not just people you might suspect, you double the number you detect," he said.

Gordon noted that psychotherapy and certain psychiatric drugs have been shown to reduce suicidal tendencies.