PERSONAL HEALTH : Study Says Blacks, Women May Be Concealing Suicides

Blacks and women may be committing suicide more than official records show, but concealing the fact by using methods that appear to be accidental causes of death, according to a sociologist at the University of California, San Diego.

Historically, those two groups have posted relatively low official suicide rates, a finding that has puzzled psychologists, who would have guessed that racism and sexism impose significant stresses that white males never feel.

The UCSD study suggests that the true suicide rate of African Americans could be as much as 15% higher than reported and that of women 6% higher.

The findings were based on a method that UCSD’s David P. Phillips has used before to uncover concealed suicides.

It is based on the theory that people who are already depressed are more likely to kill themselves as they reach the symbolically important ages of 30, 40, 50, 60 and so on.

“Many persons reaching symbolic ages reflect on whether they have achieved the goals they set for themselves earlier in their life,” Phillips said. “Taking stock on these occasions is likely to make certain people feel that they have failed. . . .”

Phillips’ earlier research using California death certificates showed that obvious suicides peak during those ages. More suicides are recorded among people at symbolic ages than would be expected if people were equally likely to kill themselves at any age.

When Phillips looked at other causes of death, he found the same pattern of peaks in certain cases: accidental poisoning or drug overdose, single-car crashes and pedestrian deaths. Deaths from natural causes and multiple-car crashes showed no such peaks.

When he examined the figures by race and sex, the peaks were especially high among blacks and women.

Phillips published his findings in the winter issue of Suicide and Life-Threatening Behavior, the journal of the American Assn. of Suicidology.