Natural death is defined as any death that occurs due to internal factors, such as infections, medical conditions, and age-related issues, among other things. For many of us, natural death may be the only type we ever know.
Unnatural causes of death, on the other hand, are linked to external factors. This means that the cause of death was highly unusual, had human involvement, or both. This includes homicides, suicides, household accidents, and most of the other things you hope never happens to your loved ones.
Out of all the uncommon and untimely deaths, which type happens the most, and why? We’ll talk more about that in the paragraphs below.
1. Accidental Poisoning
It may seem surprising that accidental poisonings rank so high among unnatural causes of death. However, the typical poisoning victim isn’t the person who accidentally knocks a toxic cleaning product into their breakfast cereal.
The most common type of accidental poisoning is a drug overdose. In 2018 alone, almost 70,000 people died from overdoses, nearly 10% of the amount that had died from overdoses in the previous nineteen years combined.
The reason 2018’s rate was so high was because of the opioid crisis. If we don’t count opioid deaths for that year, the number drops to about 23,000.
Worldwide, the rate of death due to drug use disorder is often much lower. It’s not even the top 3 causes of unnatural death.
2. Suicide
The second most common cause of unnatural deaths is also one of the most tragic. In 2018 alone, suicides claimed the lives of over 48,000 Americans. Worldwide, suicide kills nearly 800,000 people per year, more than drugs and alcohol combined.
Inadequate mental health care is one of the largest contributing factors to the suicide rate. It’s a treatable condition, but due to stigma and lack of available care, less than half of people suffering from depression get any treatment.
The world will need to embrace mental healthcare as it moves forward. This can be carried out on a personal and national level. If you know someone suffering from depression, encourage them to get help, and encourage your government to provide help for all those who are struggling.
3. Car Accidents
More than 36,000 people died in car accidents in 2018. This was part of a downward trend that’s been happening over the past several decades. While car accidents are fairly low in the US, they’re the top cause of unnatural death worldwide.
Traffic fatalities in America reached its height in the earliest years of the 1970s when cars killed 54,000 people per year for 2 years. America’s roads have been getting steadily safer since then.
The other bit of good news about car accidents is that there’s a far easier legal recourse than there is for unnatural causes of death. In addition to keeping your car in good working order, staying up to date on traffic and injury law could help you on the road.
Unnatural Causes of Death
There are a lot of unnatural causes of death in the world, and how likely they are, depends on where you live. We’ve talked about three of the most common causes worldwide in this article.
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