The youth suicide rate was stable from 2000 to 2007, it then increased 56 percent between 2007 and 2017. Even before the pandemic, an alarming number of young people struggled with feelings of helplessness, depression, and thoughts of suicide—and rates have increased over the past decade. The COVID-19 pandemic further altered their experiences at home, school, and in the community, and the effect on their mental health has been devastating.
- Suicide is a leading cause of death in the United States.
- Suicide rates in 2020 were 30 percent higher than in 2000.
Two recent youth suicides in rapid succession claimed the lives of a 19-year-old young man and a 14-year-old teenager in a small Northeast community. Both deaths, and thousands more across the country, beg the question that serves as the title for the 2021 book by Josie Jacob, Why Did You Choose to Die? A Personal Story of Reconciliation With the Suicide of Loved Ones (Jacob, 2021).
Why indeed.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reports the following (CDC, 2022a).
- Suicide is a leading cause of death in the United States. It was responsible for nearly 46,000 deaths in 2020.
- In 2020, an estimated 12.2 million adults seriously thought about suicide, 3.2 million made a plan, and 1.2 million attempted suicide.
- Suicide rates in 2020 were 30 percent higher than in 2000.
The CDC explains that “Suicide is death caused by injuring oneself with the intent to die” (CDC, 2022b).
Both “risk” and “protective” factors influence outcomes. On the risk side of the equation reside four overarching categories (CDC, 2021).
- Individual: Previous suicide attempt, mental illness, such as depression, social isolation, criminal problems, financial problems, impulsive or aggressive tendencies, job problems or loss, legal problems, serious illness, and substance use disorder
- Relationship: Adverse childhood experiences, including child abuse and neglect, bullying, family history of suicide, relationship problems such as a breakup, violence, or loss, and sexual violence
- Communities: Barriers to health care, cultural and religious beliefs, such as a belief that suicide is a noble resolution of a personal problem, and suicide clusters in the community
- Societal: Stigma associated with mental illness or help-seeking, easy access to lethal means among people at risk, firearms and medications, and unsafe media portrayals of suicide
Perhaps most frightening, the suicide rate among persons aged 10 to 24 was stable from 2000 to 2007, and then increased 56 percent between 2007 (6.8 per 100,000) and 2017 (Curtin and Heron, 2019).
In 2021, Dr. Vivek Murthy released a Surgeon General’s Advisory that spotlights the urgent need for a “swift and coordinated response” to the country’s youth mental health emergency. Of this crisis, he said, “Mental health challenges in children, adolescents, and young adults are real and widespread. The future well-being of our country depends on how we support and invest in the next generation” (OSG, 2021a).
