On Women and Suicide: A Different Age Profile than Men

The trend has been bad for both men and women -- we all need help

I had been holding off on this one, but I’m not going to hold off til World Suicide Prevention Day for this (that’s September 10).

24 July 2025, People: Anne Burrell’s Cause of Death Ruled a Suicide 5 Weeks After Food Network Star Died at 55

Anne Burrell cause of death has been revealed five weeks after the celebrity chef died at 55.

Burrell died by suicide, PEOPLE can confirm. Her cause of death is specified as "acute intoxication due to the combined effects of diphenhydramine, ethanol, cetirizine, and amphetamine," and was determined by the New York City medical examiner's office. Diphenhydramine and cetirizine are antihistamines, ethanol is a compound found in alcohol and amphetamine is commonly used to treat ADHD.

Her family declined PEOPLE's request to comment.

Yes, I’m sure her family didn’t feel like commenting.

Anne Burrell, credit: Food Network

Suicide is a difficult subject, and most people don’t want to think about it.

But when I heard about Anne Burrell’s death, it didn’t surprise me - just as with Kate Spade, who also died by suicide at the age of 55.

Because, unlike men, women’s suicide death rates peak in middle age.

Suicide Hits Differently by Sex

I’ve written about suicide deaths many times before, and I often focused on men. Yes, the death rate for men by suicide is much higher than for women.

What people usually don’t realize, whether men or women, is what the age distribution looks like.

Let me show you what it looked like for 2024 (preliminary stats), in both counts and rate.

Count

So you can see why I tend to talk about male suicide more than female suicide.

Even at the oldest ages, when there are so many more women alive than men, more men are dying by suicide than women.

Rates

The pattern looks very different if we focus solely on the rate.

Again, the male suicide rates dwarf those of females at the oldest ages.

It’s easy to see the male pattern on this graph: in general, during working years, male suicide death rates are at a certain level, there is a dip at early retirement years, and then rises steeply in old age.

Yes, suicide death rates are very low for children. I will not be talking about that today.

Given the dominance of the higher level of the male death rates, let’s look at the female suicide death rates by themselves.

Women’s Suicide Death Rates Peak in Middle Age

This is very interesting.

Unlike men, women’s suicide death rates peak in middle age, and then taper off.

To be sure, the peak death rate for women, for suicide, is much lower than that for men.

That said, it’s interesting to me that the peak has been in middle age, and it’s been that way in the U.S. for a very long time.

Long-Term Suicide Trend for Males and Females: Bad

Just to add, both the male and female trend for suicide in the U.S. has been bad.

It’s easier to see for males, but both men and women have seen a 25-year increase in suicide death rates.

It’s difficult to see the female variability when we have the male death rates on the scale. Let’s check it out when the males are removed:

Okay, the age-adjusted death rates currently are lower than those in 1968.

But that’s true for many causes of death across the board.

There had been a low point in suicide death rates in the year 2000, and suicide death rates have been increasing since.

Why?

Spreadsheet

Male V Female Distribution Of Suicide

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