US Deaths of Despair 1968-2022

These US mortality data from the CDC show the crude death rate for the aggregate of (deaths by suicide + alcohol abuse + drug abuse) / population size.

From 1968 - 1998, the CDC collected data for three racial categories only: white, black, and other. "Other" was, in 1968, primarily Native American, but a growing Asian population split with Natives in 1999. This is reflected in the data showing a very high rate of deaths of despair in 1968, which gradually decreased until 1999 as the Asian population grew.
Chart: craignelsen.substack.comSource: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Center for Health Statistics. National Vital Statistics System, Mortality: Compressed Mortality File 1979-1998. CDC WONDER On-line Database, compiled from Compressed Mortality File CMF Mortality: Compressed Mortality File 1968-1978. CDC WONDER Online Database, 1968-1988, Series 20, No. 2A, 2000 and CMF 1989-1998, Series 20, No. 2E, 2003. Accessed at http://wonder.cdc.gov/cmf-icd9.html on Aug 17, 2024 9:49:32 PM compiled from Compressed Mortality File CMF 1968-1988, Series 20, No. 2A, 2000. Accessed at http://wonder.cdc.gov/cmf-icd8.html on Aug 17, 2024 9:59:52 PM Mortality: Compressed Mortality File 1999-2016 on CDC WONDER Online Database, released June 2017. Data are from the Compressed Mortality File 1999-2016 Series 20 No. 2U, 2016, as compiled from data provided by the 57 vital statistics jurisdictions through the Vital Statistics Cooperative Program. Mortality 2018-2022 on CDC WONDER Online Database, released in 2024. Data are from the Multiple Cause of Death Files, 2018-2022, as compiled from data provided by the 57 vital statistics jurisdictions through the Vital Statistics CooperativeProgramGet the data Download imageCreated with Datawrapper