What Your Job Says About Your Suicide Risk

— -- When it comes to jobs that are detrimental to your health, experts often refer to the three Ds -- dirty, dangerous and dull.

But jobs in the three Fs -- fishing, forestry and farming -- had the highest suicide risk, according to a report released today by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

The report examined suicide rates in different occupations in 2012.

Workers in the farming, fishing and forestry industries had a suicide rate of 84.5 per 100,000, while the lowest suicide rate was found in people working in education, with a rate of 7.5 per 100,000, the study found. That's more than a 10-fold difference in suicide risk. Of the 12,313 reported suicides, 77.2 percent were male while 22.8 percent were female.

While suicide can occur for a variety of reasons, the report found certain factors such as social isolation and access to lethal materials could contribute to suicide risk. The report is not conclusive when it comes to the reason behind the higher suicide rates seen in some professions.

“Previous research suggests that farmers’ chronic exposure to pesticides" may “contribute to depressive symptoms," according to the report.

Other occupational groups with high suicide rates include maintenance/repair, construction and management. The report cited reasons such as lack of steady employment and work overload as possible factors that could contribute to suicide risk. However, the occupational risks for suicide were slightly different for women, with those in protective services such as law enforcement and firefighting having the highest rates of suicide, the study found.

One limitation of the study was that the data was collected from 17 states, so it's unclear if these suicide rates would match up with national rates, the researchers noted. The 17 states were Alaska, Colorado, Georgia, Kentucky, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New Mexico, North Carolina, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, Rhode Island, South Carolina, Utah, Virginia, and Wisconsin.

John Draper, director of the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline, explained that the people at risk are often in rural areas with reduced access to mental health services and are often working alone.

"Aloneness and disconnection is often associated with greater distress and a harder time coping," he told ABC News today.

For those in rural areas, accessing help through the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline or the Crisis Textline can help people even if they are not in crisis, Draper said.

"About three out of four people who contact National Suicide Prevention Lifeline are not suicidal, they’re people in emotional distress," said Draper, who was not involved in this CDC study. "There’s a significant reduction not only in suicidality but in emotional distress," after people call a hotline.

The findings of the study could be used to help people at risk of suicide, according to the study authors, who noted that prevention activities directed toward specific groups can “enhance social support, community connectedness and access to preventive services." And workplace wellness programs can promote coping skills, the study authors noted.

The five occupation groups with the highest suicide rates per 100,000 workers

• Farming, fishing, forestry 84.5
• Construction and extraction 53.3
• Installation, maintenance and repair 47.9
• Production 34.5
• Architecture and engineering 32.2

Dr. Monique Dieuvil is a family medicine resident at University of Florida Health in Gainesville, Florida. She is a medical resident in the ABC News Medical Unit.