Youth, teen and young adult suicide rates surged by 56 percent between 2007 and 2017, a new report reveals.
And rates have risen fastest among children between 10 and 14, tripling since 2007.
While self-directed violence is on the rise, homicide rates among 10- to 24-year-olds fell by 18 percent over the same period, according to Centers for Disease Control and Prevention data released on Wednesday.
Suicide remains the second leading cause of death for young people in the US, and homicide is the third-from-the-top killer of American teens and young adults between 10 and 24.
An alarming increase was also reported among 15- to 19-year-olds, among whom suicides have shot up by over 75 percent since 2014, increasing by 10 percent each year since.
The new statistics come amid rising concerns that the mental health of US youth, teenagers and young adults is in a dismal state, with some experts blaming smart phones, social media and the decline of in-person support networks.
Since 2000, homicides (green) among people aged 10-24 in the US have declined by 18%, overall, but after years of stability, suicide rates (blue) have risen by 56% in the last decade
Violent deaths – especially among the youngest Americans – have emerged as not on only a political but also a public health issue in the US.
Although in the long therm homicides have fallen, recent years have seen increases in both homicides and suicides among 10- to 24-year-olds.
Finally, homicide rates among youth, teens and young adults fell between 2016 and 2017, but has overall shot up by 36 percent since 2000.
That increase sharpened between 2013 and 2016, rising by about six percent each year – six times the rate of increase seen between 2000 and 2013 before finally dipping back down in 2017.
More worrisome is the fast-paced rise in suicides.
Suicide rates among young people held fairly stable between 2000 and 2007.
But since then, they’ve increased sharply over the course of the last decade.
In 2007, there were 6.8 suicide deaths per every 100,000 people aged 10-24 in the US.
By 2017, that number had swelled to 10.6 per every 100,000.
Among that wide age range, suicide rates – and changes in them – varied dramatically.
Suicide was actually declining – falling a considerable 40 percent – among children between ages 10 and 14 until 2007.
In a sharp reversal, suicide rates among these youth had tripled by 2017.
Meanwhile, homicide followed a more stable trend among the age group, declining by 18 percent between 2000 and 2017.
The most dramatic increase in suicides (blue) was among the youngest children, with rates tripling among 10- to 14-year-olds between 2000 and 2017, as a CDC graph shows
Among both teenagers (aged 15-19) and young adults (20-24), violent deaths of both forms have climbed recently.
Since 2007, the teenager age group has seen a sharp incline in suicides, spiking by 76 percent.
And since 2014, that pace has only quickened. Ten percent more teenagers have died by suicide each year since then.
Netflix’s controversial show, 13 Reasons Why came under scrutiny for ‘glamorizing’ suicide in its depiction of the aftermath of a high school students death by suicide.
Health officials worried that the show might trigger an increase in suicides.
Indeed, researchers found a bump in online searches after the show’s March 2017 premier – but the latest data barely capture teen suicide deaths that took place after the show debuted, suggesting that the trend began long before 13 Reasons Why did.
Homicide deaths have declined among teenagers between 15 and 19 (green) while suicides (blue) show up by 76% between 2000 and 2017
After declining from 2007 to 2014, homicides are back on the rise among teenagers, increasing by 30 percent since 2014.
Trends in the oldest group included in the report have been somewhat less dramatic – although the increase in suicides has accelerated since 2013, increasing by six percent year-over-year.
After falling by 28 percent from 2000 to 2014, the homicide rate had ticked back up by 15 percent by 2017, the CDC reports.
The new report doesn’t attempt these disturbing trends, or why one form of violent death might decline while the other surges so dramatically.
But it follows broad reports that rates of anxiety, depression and mental health issues in general are on the rise among kids, teens and young adults in the US.
A recent American Psychological Association study found that the the number of adolescents who reported enduring ‘serous psychological distress’ have increased significantly among both adolescents and young adults.
As of 2018, one if five teenagers between 12 and 18 had at least one mental health disorder.
Depression, trauma, alcohol and substance abuse disorders and access to lethal means are top risk factors for suicide among young people, and working to address each of these could save the lives of scores of young people in the US.
- For confidential help, call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 1-800-273-8255 or click here
- For confidential support on suicide matters in the UK, call the Samaritans on 08457 90 90 90, visit a local Samaritans branch or click here
- For confidential support in Australia, please call Lifeline on 13 11 14 or click here
