Youth mental health has been described as the “defining public health crisis of our time,” and yet, a new study shows, that despite the attention-grabbing headlines on the issue, the message isn’t translating to getting help for those who need it most.
Suicide is the second leading cause of death in youth ages 10-14 years with a nearly 50 percent increase in suicide rates in the past decade.
Despite the increase of suicidal thoughts and action, by and large, young people are not receiving treatment for mental health issues.
Three out of five youth who died by suicide did not have a documented mental health diagnosis, according to the study published on the JAMA Open Network.
The data shows that challenges continue to persist in identifying mental health needs among at-risk youth.
The study’s lead author, Sofia Chaudhary, MD, an assistant professor in Emory’s School of Medicine and pediatric emergency medicine physician, is motivated to help reduce youth suicide.
“As a society, we have a shared responsibility to ensure every child and teen has the ability to lead a full life,” Chaudhary said in a news release from Emory University.
“By working together across disciplines and across medical and non-medical settings, we can collectively help reduce youth suicide through both clinical interventions and upstream societal/community efforts.”
Chaudhary and her team collected data on 40,618 youths ages 10 to 24 who died by suicide from 2010-2021, using the National Violent Death Reporting System restricted access database. Information was collected from death certificates, coroner and medical examiner records and law enforcement reports.
Racial disparities
White youth and girls were found to be more likely to have a mental health diagnosis, the study showed, while minority groups (especially those who identified as American Indian or Alaska Native, Asian Native Hawaiian or other Pacific Islander, Black or Hispanic) were less likely to have a diagnosis.
“Distrust in the health care system is more common among ethnic and racial minorities,” Chaudhary said. “Increasing culturally sensitive services and diversity in the mental health workforce can help ensure equitable access to mental health screening and diagnosis.”
Reducing access to lethal means
The study also found that suicide among youth most often involved a firearm highlighting the need for additional lethal means counseling in health care and community settings.
Hanging, strangulation and suffocation used to be the most common means. The difference could be, the authors said, due to the increased accessibility of firearms in the United States.
Among U.S. teens, 64.4 percent have said they could access a firearm in five minutes or less. Because youth suicide has been found to sometimes be impulsive or driven by a physical altercation, teens have been known to make a decision and follow through on suicide in the same timeframe or less.
Approximately 4.5 million children in the U.S. live in a home where a firearm is stored unlocked and loaded.
Child access protection laws have been shown to reduce firearm deaths including firearm suicide, Chaudhary said.
Life stressors or acute crises
In addition to mental health risk factors, the study concluded, prevention efforts must also address family and life stressors. The most common precipitating factors to suicide were found to be intimate partner problems and family relationship problems.
Prior studies suggest that impulsivity among younger youth plays a greater role in suicide vulnerability, Chaudhary said.
“Prevention strategies in primary care and community settings that are tailored specifically to younger age groups should promote peer and family connectedness, foster resilience and empower children with coping strategies for times of crisis,” Chaudhary said. “We also need more community programming to reach youth in schools, community rec-centers and faith-based settings as they may frequent these locations more often than clinical settings.”
Conclusion
While there is still a long way to go to get youth the help they need to reduce suicide, Chaudhary said there have been some positive steps in the right direction.
“Many hospitals are now incorporating lethal means screening and counseling,” said Chaudhary. “Additionally, schools are incorporating not only anti-bullying programs but also increasing mental health supports and peer-to-peer programming. We have a long way to go, but I’m hopeful we can build on these strategies and begin to see positive change.”
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If you or someone you know needs support now, call or text 988 or chat at 988lifeline.org
For local mental health resources, visit AFP’s Project Mental Health page.
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Crystal Graham
