Suicide by Opioid: New Research Suggests Overdoses Should Be Classified as Self-Harm

Mental health crisis under-recognized due to overdose classification, says researcher

Rates of drug overdose deaths have increased threefold, from 6.1 out of 100,000 deaths in 1999 to 19.8 deaths per 100,000 in 2016. Raj Eiamworakul/Unsplash

A steady stream of headlines declare that life expectancy in the United States is decreasing.

And an often-cited reason is the climbing number of opioid-related deaths.