Suicide is complex and is affected by many risk factors, including untreated mental illness, prolonged stress, isolation and access to firearms and drugs. In recent years, the new report has not delved into the potential causes of adolescent improvement. But one reason may be that more teenagers are opening up about suicidal thoughts to others, Harkavy Friedman said. She noted that her organization Talk Save Save Lives has hosted a suicide prevention program that provides people with warning signs about suicide.
“Don’t put it in, but just sharing it with someone you’re struggling with may help,” she said.
Additionally, more and more teenagers are constantly seeking help and finding it, she added.
“More and more children are linked to treatment. These treatments are specific to suicide and suicide prevention.”
The report also found that the share of adolescents has dropped from 21% to 15% over the past year. However, about 60% of teenagers have been treated with depression recently.
Hannah Wesolowski, director of advocacy for the National Alliance on Mental Illness, pointed out that 2.6 million teenagers still have suicidal thoughts in 2024.
“That’s one in ten kids, and it’s still too high in this country,” she added. “So we’re making progress, but we’re not making progress fast enough.”
The report also found that 700,000 teenagers did try suicide over the past year.
Wesolowski notes that access to mental health care remains challenging for Americans, partly due to high out-of-pocket costs, a shortage of mental health care providers and a lack of culturally competent care targeting different races and ethnicities.
According to the new report, despite a slight increase in the number of adults receiving mental health treatment, nearly half of adults with mental illness have difficulty accessing treatment.
Disappeared data
Wesolowski pointed out that something is missing from the new report compared to previous years.
“This report does not reveal past prevalence or treatment rates through race or race,” she said.
“As in previous years, the 2023 report provides a breakdown of race and race,” KFF researcher Heather Saunders wrote in an email.
“Deleting these data limits our ability to track behavioral health trends and any differences in access to care,” she noted..
Saunders and her colleagues used this data in the past to understand the differences in prevalence of mental illness and severe mental illness among different races and ethnicities.
Wesolowski explained that, for example, survey reports from the past few years are key to identifying the recent increase in suicide rates among black youth.
“Have we made progress in this regard?” she said. “Without this popular data and really looking at the data through demographics, we probably won’t spend our resources the right way.”
Department of Health and Human Services spokesman Andrew Nixon told NPR in an email that demographics, including race and race, will be released in an upcoming report.
Vesolovsky pointed out that suicide remains one of the main causes of death in the United States. As the new report points out, suicide took more than 49,000 people in 2023.
“We are investing a lot of money in suicide prevention and mental health services,” Wesolowski said. “But our demand is so great that we know we need to do more,” Wesolowski said. “That’s not enough.”
If you or someone you know is struggling with suicidal thoughts, you can call or text 988 and contact it to help.
