Comparison of male and female suicides in a defined community.

During the past 20 years, suicide rates in the United States have risen consistently. The upward trend has been particularly pronounced for adolescents and males. The availability of a complete data set on all suicides that occurred between 1925 and 1979 in Sacramento County, California, allowed us to compare trends in suicide rates by sex. Our objective is to describe existing differences and similarities between males and females in age-at-death, demographic characteristics, and evidence of presuicide disintegration. We found that female suicide rates in Sacramento County were significantly lower than males and there were significant differences in presuicide characteristics and behaviors between males and females who committed suicide. Except for the youngest age groups, suicide rates for males have remained stable over the last 20 years, while female rates have increased slightly. The fact that this increase coincides with a period of rapid change in the employment and familial roles of women is of particular interest. Male and female suicides differ in important respects, but as female rates rose the characteristics of female suicides increasingly resembled those of male suicides.