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    Thoughts of suicide are disturbingly common among Americans, which is detailed in the report, the 2010 National Survey on Drug Use and Health (NSDUH), newly released by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration.

 While one in five Americans experienced some sort of mental illness in the past year (rising to nearly 30 percent among 18-25-year olds), 8.7 million contemplated suicide.

 Approximately 2.5 million people took their suicidal thoughts a step further and made plans to carry out the suicide, whereas 1.1 million actually attempted it.

Suicide is a Leading Cause of Death

 It’s estimated that a person commits suicide every 15 minutes in the United States, and each day just over 100 people take their own lives.

 For each of these suicide deaths, an estimated 8-25 people made suicide attempts.1

 Taken together, the latest preliminary 2010 data from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) lists intentional self-harm, or suicide, as the 10th leading cause of death in the United States.

 In all, nearly 37,800 suicide deaths were reported in 2010, a number the CDC notes is likely underestimated.2