Suicide is complex and influenced by a Risk factorsIncluding unrelated mental illnesses, prolonged stress, isolation and access to lethal media, such as firearms and medications. The new report does not deepen the possible causes of the improvement in adolescents in recent years. But a reason could be more teenagers to open others about their suicidal thoughts, says Harkave-Friedman. He pointed out a suicide prevention program led by his organization called Talk saves livesthat educates people about suicide warning signals.
“Not keeping it inside and just sharing with some that you are fighting can be useful,” she says.
In addition, he adds, more teenagers have been looking for help and finding it.
“More and more children are connecting with treatment. And those treatments are specific to suicide and suicide prevention.”
The report also found that the proportion of adolescents with an episode of major depression in the last year fell this time, from 21% to 15%. But only about 60% or adolescents with a recent episode or depression received treatment.
And 2.6 million adolescents still had suicide thoughts in 2024, says Hannah Wesolowski, head of defense of the National Alliance on Mental Diseases.
“That is 1 in 10 children, which is still too high in this country,” he adds. “So we are progressing, but we are not progressing quick enough.”
The report also found that 700,000 adolescents tried suicide in the last year.
Wesolowski points out that access to mental health care remains a challenge for Americans, partly due to high pocket costs, the shortage of mental health care suppliers and lack of culturally competent care for different racial and ethnic groups.
According to the new report, although there was a slight increase in the number of adults receiving mental health treatment, almost half or adults with mental illness had trouble accessing treatment.
Disappearing data
Wesolowski points out something missing in the new report compared to previous years.
“This report does not eliminate prevalence or treatment rates by races or ethnicities, which she has in the past,” she says.
“The 2023 report, as in previous years, tested breakdown for race and ethnicity”, KFF researcher Heather Saunders NPR wrote in an email.
“Eliminate this data limits our ability to track behavior health trends and any difference in access to care,” he said.
Saunders and his colleagues have used that data in the past to Understand the differences in the prevalence of mental illnesses and serious mental illnesses In different racial and ethnic groups.
The reports of the survey of recent years, for example, have been key to identifying the recent increase in suicide rates among young blacks, explains Wesolowski.
“Are we progressing in that?” She says. “Without those prevalence data and really observe the data for demography, we may not spend ours in the right way.”
Andrew Nixon, spokesman for the Department of Health and Human Services, told NPR in an email that demographic data, including breed and ethnicity, will be published in an upcoming report.
Suicide remains one of the main causes of death in the United States, says Wesolowski. As the new report points out, suicide charged more than 49,000 lives in 2023.
“We are putting a lot of money in suicide prevention and mental health services. But the need is so great that we need to do more,” says Wesolowski, “that this is not enough.”
If you or some who know you are struggling with suicide thoughts, you can mark or send text messages to 988 and be connected to help.
