U.S. psychologists' suicide rates have declined since the 1960s

In the 1960s and early 1970s, proportionately more professional women committed suicide than did women in the general population, while professional men committed suicide at rates similar to men in the general population. To provide more recent information, this study explored suicide rates among U.S.-resident American Psychological Association members during the years 1981 to 1990. The suicide rate for women in the Association was found to be 7.6 per 100,000 population per year, a rate that is lower than in the 1960s and similar to women in the general population. The rate for men was found to be 7.8 per 100,000 population per year, a rate that is lower than in the 1960s and lower than among men in the general population. Effects of increasing numbers of women in the professions in general, or in psychology in particular, may explain the decline in suicide rates.