Addressing rising suicide rates among Black youth

By Ivan Sanchez& & & & As National Minority Mental Health Awareness Month unfolds, new federal data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) highlights a troubling trend: the suicide rate among Black youth ages 10 to 19 surpassed that of their white peers for the first time in 2022. This alarming development calls for urgent attention to mental health care within the Black community. The data reveals a stark increase in suicide rates among Black adolescents. From 2018 to 2022, the suicide rate for Black youth surged by 54%, rising from 5.3 to 8.1 deaths per 100,000 adolescents. In contrast, the rate for white youth decreased by 17%, dropping from 9.6 to 7.9 deaths per 100,000. The overall rate for all racial and ethnic groups also declined, from 8.1 to 7.6 per 100,000. This disparity underscores a critical and growing issue that disproportionately affects Black youth. The rise in suicide rates among Black adolescents is not a recent phenomenon. Between 2007 and 2020, the rate increased by a staggering 144% for Black youth aged 10 to 17. This trend stands in stark contrast to the overall downward trend in youth suicide rates, raising alarms about the mental...