Suicide attempts among Black children and teens are increasing faster than in other racial groups, while teenage suicide rates have jumped dramatically in recent years, a new study has shown.
The study “Trends of Suicidal Behaviors Among High School Students in the United States: 1991-2017,” published in the journal Pediatrics, showed that self-reported suicide attempts for Black adolescents rose by 73 percent in the period under review compared to a decline of 7.5 percent among white adolescents.
“Black kids are saying that they’re engaging in higher rates of attempts and I think that is something that every citizen in America should be concerned about,” said Michael A. Lindsey, lead researcher on the study and executive director of the McSilver Institute for Poverty Policy and Research at New York University, in a CBS News interview.
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Not only are Black youth increasingly likely to attempt suicide, but those attempts are also more likely to be fatal. Previous studies have found increases in Black youth dying by suicide, even among young children age 5 to 11 years old.
A 15-year-old teen and her brother turned her struggle with suicidal thoughts into an app that helps kids ask for help when they are depressed or disturbed.
