United States: annual suicides 1900-1970, by method

Firearms and explosives (although mostly firearms) have been the most common method of death by suicide since the early 1900s. Poisoning was generally the second-most common method, although there were some years where there were more suicide deaths due to hanging or strangulation. In this period, the suicide rate peaked in the early-1930s, at the height of the Great Depression, with almost 20,000 deaths by suicide in 1932 alone. Although the total number of deaths by suicide in the given period was highest in 1970, it is important to note that the U.S. population grew significantly during the 20th century and the suicide rate at this time was much lower than in the 1930s. Additionally, records were generally less reliable in early years, therefore many suicides may have gone unrecorded, may have been miscategorized as homicide or natural death, or miscategorized by method.

自20世纪初以来，枪械与爆炸物（尽管主要是枪械）已成为自杀的最常见死亡方式。毒物通常位居第二，尽管在某些年份，由于吊颈或勒颈导致的自杀死亡人数超过了这一比例。在此期间，自杀率在20世纪30年代初达到顶峰，正值大萧条的高潮时期，仅1932年就有近20,000人自杀。尽管在给定时期内，1970年的自杀死亡总数最高，但值得注意的是，美国人口在20世纪显著增长，而此时的自杀率远低于20世纪30年代。此外，早期记录普遍不够可靠，因此许多自杀事件可能未被记录，可能被错误地归类为他杀或自然死亡，或错误地按方法分类。