Suicide is a leading cause of death among young people in the United States, and new research suggests that the majority of young people who have died by suicide did not have a documented mental health diagnosis in their medical history.
I think there are two things that stood out to me about this research.
- Young people who need help aren’t getting it. Part of the reason there is no diagnosis is that many of these young people suffer in silence. They are vulnerable for a number of reasons, but we are not taking the steps to identify the issues and get them help. That’s on all of us. It appears to be a larger issue with minority kids, males, and other groups who historically have been underserved by mental health resources.
- Guns are so effective at killing that kids with access to guns only need to consider it one time. It’s hard to get to a diagnosis when the method works so often. Only 33% of those lost to suicide by gun had a diagnosis, compared to 40% overall.
I hope you’ll read the whole article and think about the policies that could be effective in the fight against youth suicide. What we’re doing now isn’t working.
https://www.cnn.com/2024/07/30/health/young-people-suicide-mental-health/index.html