may be especially at risk of a suicide attempt, according to a national survey conducted by the Trevor Project, a suicide prevention group for L.G.B.T.Q. From 2013 to 2019 the suicide rate of Black boys and men 15 to 24 years old rose by 47 percent, and by 59 percent for Black girls and women of the same age.Īdolescents of color who identify as L.G.B.T.Q. But while the suicide rate has recently declined among those groups, it has continued to rise among Black youths. Her parents said she had been subjected to racist bullying by her classmates.Īmong teenagers and young adults, suicide rates remain highest among whites, Native Americans and Alaska Natives. In one of the most recent examples, a 10-year-old Black girl with autism died by suicide in Utah in early November. Lindsey, who was the first to document trends in rising suicide attempts among Black adolescents.Ī 2018 study found that while the suicide rate of Black children 5 to 12 was low, it was nearly twice that of white children in the same age group. “I think the statistics are shocking,” said Dr. But when taking into account youth suicide rates - the number of suicides per 100,000 individuals under age 25 - a different picture emerges. White deaths by suicide far outnumber those of Black people. Looking at the raw numbers, it’s easy to understand why. Lindsey, the executive director of the McSilver Institute for Poverty Policy and Research at New York University, who studies the mental health of Black adolescents. Suicide and mental illness are often thought of as a “white phenomenon,” said Michael A. Burnham was diagnosed with depression as a teenager, he became so good at hiding it that even his own family members, who were loving and supportive, did not fully understand how much pain he held inside - or the extent to which he felt like an outsider as one of the few Black students at a mostly white school in suburban Philadelphia. On the day of his suicide attempt, he was confronted by his parents about a stash of alcohol that they had found in his car. “I couldn’t even think that far ahead,” he said. ![]() Jordan Burnham, who survived a jump from a ninth-story window when he was 18, said that if he had been asked whether he was planning to kill himself that day, the answer would have been no. They were also more likely to have had a family relationship problem, argument or conflict, or a history of suicide attempts. More research is needed, but a government study conducted last year suggested that Black children and adolescents who died by suicide were more likely than white youths to have experienced a crisis in the two weeks before they died. Because suicide screening questionnaires typically ask whether people are having suicidal thoughts or have made plans to hurt themselves, the authors speculated that the questionnaires might fail to identify some Black youths who are at risk of suicide, or that there could be additional factors that might indicate a need for intervention. One study of high school students, published in September, found that the Black teenagers surveyed were more likely than the white teenagers to have attempted suicide without first having suicidal thoughts or plans. Legislators and academics are now pushing for better research to understand why, especially in light of new evidence that suggests Black children may have unique risk factors for self-harm. Self-reported suicide attempts rose nearly 80 percent among Black adolescents from 1991 to 2019, while the prevalence of attempts did not change significantly among those of other races and ethnicities. Over the past generation, a mental health crisis has been brewing among Black youths like Joe, one that very few people - including Black families - have spoken about publicly. But you want to talk to somebody and tell someone that? They’re going to think you’re crazy.” Joe still remembers his father’s response: “That’s not true. “I’m having these thoughts of killing myself - that you’d all be better without me here.” My head’s not right,” he told his father. Months later, he was still feeling depressed. But it was enough only to produce a bad stomachache. Those thoughts eventually became so pervasive that one day he came home from school and took a small handful of pills. He thought about ending his life if the bullying didn’t stop. Joe is being identified by his middle name.) (Joe’s surname and that of another young person interviewed for this article are being withheld to protect their privacy.
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