Study Finds Alcohol Was Involved in 24% of U.S. Suicide Deaths in 2022 and 2023

About 24% of suicide deaths in the United States in 2022 and 2023 involved alcohol consumption, according to a new study that reviewed national violent death records and found that other substances were often present at the same time.

The study was published in *Alcohol and Alcoholism*, an Oxford University Press journal. It analyzed data from the National Violent Death Reporting System, or NVDRS, a U.S. system that compiles information on violent deaths, including suicides. The researchers used those records to estimate how often alcohol was involved in suicide deaths and to identify patterns of substance use that appeared alongside alcohol.

The authors reported that alcohol use remains a significant risk factor for suicide and said measuring how often it is involved is important for prevention work. Their analysis found that nearly 1 in 4 suicide deaths during the two-year period involved alcohol. The study also found frequent co-occurrence with other substances, suggesting that many cases did not involve alcohol alone.

The source material available from the journal does not detail in the summary which specific substances most often appeared with alcohol, or how those patterns differed by age, sex, method of death, or other demographic factors. But the researchers said the overlap was common enough to complicate the overall risk profile. That matters because prevention programs often address alcohol use, drug use, and suicide risk as separate issues, even though they can intersect in the same person and in the same crisis.

The findings do not mean alcohol alone caused 24% of suicide deaths. The study estimated alcohol involvement based on death reporting data, not direct proof of a single cause in each case. Even so, the numbers add to evidence that alcohol can play a meaningful role in suicide risk and that the presence of additional substances may increase the difficulty of identifying and interrupting a crisis in time.

The NVDRS has become an important source for this kind of research because it combines information from death certificates, medical examiners, coroners, and law enforcement agencies. That gives researchers a broader picture of violent deaths than a single record source would provide. By focusing on 2022 and 2023, the study offers a recent estimate of how common alcohol involvement was in U.S. suicide mortality.

The authors said the results support integrated prevention strategies that address both alcohol use and exposure to other substances. In practice, that could influence how hospitals, mental health providers, substance use treatment programs, and public health agencies screen for risk. A person showing signs of suicidal distress may face a different and more immediate danger if alcohol or multiple substances are also involved. The study suggests those factors should be assessed together, not in isolation.

The findings may also carry implications beyond the health care system. For the beverage industry, including beer, wine, and spirits producers, the research could add to calls for stronger responsible-drinking efforts and public health messaging that takes mental health risk more directly into account. It could also inform future policy discussions about harm reduction, labeling, education campaigns, and partnerships aimed at reducing alcohol-related injury and death. Those outcomes are not conclusions of the study itself, but they are potential effects of evidence showing a measurable link between alcohol involvement and suicide mortality.

The study adds a current national estimate to a field where timely data can shape prevention decisions. Suicide remains a major public health issue in the United States, and the researchers argue that understanding the role of alcohol and other substances is necessary for any response that aims to reduce deaths. Their analysis points to a pattern that is both large enough to matter and complex enough to require coordination across mental health care, addiction services, emergency response, and public health prevention efforts.