Myth vs. Fact: Youth Suicide
Sources + Links
Abstract:
Suicide is a national crisis in the United States, increasing in severity each year. Although suicide is the 10th leading cause of death for all persons in the U.S., it is the second leading cause for 15-24 year olds in particular. The topic of youth suicide is both stigmatized and misunderstood. In this infographic I have set out to clarify common misconceptions about youth suicide as well as provide actionable steps to combat this growing epidemic.
Slide 2 - Myth vs. Fact
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Myth: “Young people are not at serious risk of suicide.”
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Fact: Suicide is the second leading cause of death among 15-24 year olds. More young people die by suicide than homicide and heart disease combined. To be specific, 6,211 15-24 year olds committed suicide in 2018, compared to 4,607 homicide deaths and 905 heart disease deaths. The foremost leading cause of death among 15-24 year olds is unintentional injury, with 12,044 deaths in 2018 (less than double the suicide rate).
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Source: https://www.nimh.nih.gov/health/statistics/suicide.shtml
Slide 3 - Myth vs. Fact
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Myth: “Asking teens if they think about suicide increases their risk.”
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Fact: Open-minded and caring conversations about suicide save lives. Suicide risk is increased when teens feel they cannot talk to adults or peers about their mental health. The study below analyzed a group of adolescents who had recently received psychiatric care. Researchers assessed some of the adolescents regularly, asking about suicidal ideations. Other adolescents were not asked these questions with the same frequency. The results of the study showed that asking about suicidal ideation did not increase the rate of suicide or suicide attempts. This same result was shown when these conversations/assessments were conducted by parents.
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Source: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3597074
Slide 4 - Myth vs. Fact
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Myth: “Youth suicide is not an urgent national crisis.”
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Fact: A teen commits suicide roughly every 3 hours in the United States. Nearly 1 in 5 adolescents have self-harmed. Nearly 2 in 5 have had ideations about self-harm. 2 out of 3 teens do not have access to treatment. Only one-third of teens have reported easy access to depression treatment, and even fewer believe that their treatment is high-quality.
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Source: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2695720/
Slide 5 - Why is it so Difficult for Teens to find Depression Treatment?
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Healthcare does not cover / provide adequate therapy for most teens. 2 out of 3 teens report that they are unable to receive depression treatment due to either financial constrictions or difficulty to access facilities/personnel. The majority of teens who do have access to these treatments feel that their treatment is inadequate.
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Over $4 billion has been cut from the public mental health budget since 2008. This figure is the accumulation of mental health cuts from state education budgets (2008-2019).
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Many schools do not offer mental health services. Nearly 30% of schools do not employ any individual capable of mental health counseling. The vast majority of schools which do employ at least one counselor are heavily understaffed.
Slide 6 - Ways to Help Prevent Youth Suicide
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Illustrated slide with image of teen standing on hand. National suicidie prevention logo appears underneath.
Slide 7- Call Your School Board and Demand Trained Mental Health Staff
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If you need to find your school board, use this website: https://xqsuperschool.org/school-board-lookup
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If you would like an outline of what to say when speaking with school administrators, feel free to reference this infographic as well as this short article: https://counseling.online.wfu.edu/blog/how-counselors-help-students-manage-their-mental-health/
Slide 8 - Elect Politicians who Recognize that Mental Health Care is Healthcare
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Visit this website to see which states are ranked highest/lowest in mental health services: https://www.mhanational.org/issues/mental-health-america-election-year-mental-health-and-politics
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Visit this website (National Alliance on Mental Illness) and enter your location to be connected with your nearest NAMI center. There, you can find resources on how best to understand local politicians’ stances on mental health care: https://www.mhanational.org/issues/mental-health-america-election-year-mental-health-and-politics
Sources:
https://www.nimh.nih.gov/health/statistics/suicide.shtml
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3597074/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2695720/
https://save.org/about-suicide/suicide-facts/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK109909/
Title illustration by Maria Fabrizio
Donate to:
The Trevor Project
https://www.thetrevorproject.org/donate/?gclid=CNbo7byrlMYCFYSPHwod-mYAVg
The American Foundation for Suicide Prevention
https://afsp.org/donate-to-afsp
NAMI