HONORED FOR THEIR ACHIEVEMENTS. MY LOCAL LATE BREAKING WVTM 13 NEWS AT 630 STARTS NOW. THANKS FOR STAYING WITH US AT 6:30 A.M. GUY RAWLINGS. AND I’M SHERI FALK. SUICIDE IS THE SECOND LEADING CAUSE OF DEATH AMONG YOUNG PEOPLE IN ALABAMA. YET TOO MANY FAMILIES LEFT WONDERING IF THEY COULD HAVE DONE MORE TO HELP. VICTIM 13. CHIP SCARBOROUGH IS LIVE IN BIRMINGHAM TONIGHT TO EXPLAIN WHY IT’S AN ISSUE THAT TOUCHES EVERY SINGLE PERSON. CHIP. GUY AND CHERIE. THE ALABAMA DEPARTMENT OF MENTAL HEALTH SAYS TEEN SUICIDE IS SOMETHING THAT AFFECTS PEOPLE OF ALL RACES, GENDERS AND NATIONALITIES. AND IT CAN AFFECT ANYONE AT ANY TIME. THE ALABAMA DEPARTMENT OF MENTAL HEALTH SAYS TEEN SUICIDE IS A MAJOR ISSUE IN THE STATE RIGHT NOW. AND 2020, ALABAMA RECORDED 793 SUICIDE AIDS TOTAL, 100. ONE OF THOSE WERE YOUNG PEOPLE BETWEEN THE AGES OF TEN AND 24, A GRIM REMINDER OF THE MENTAL HEALTH ISSUES FACING YOUNG PEOPLE. IT’S ALWAYS GREAT TO JUST TALK ABOUT IT. JUST BRING IT UP. JUST TALK ABOUT IT WITH YOUR PEERS. TALK ABOUT IT WITH SOMEONE YOU FEEL COMFORTABLE WITH, SUCH AS YOUR FAMILY OR YOUR FRIENDS. KRISTEN AMERSON COMMITTED SUICIDE IN THE SPRING OF 2014 AT THE AGE OF 11. HER BROTHER HAS SAID STARTED A FOUNDATION IN HER MEMORY, RAISING AWARENESS ABOUT THE ISSUE OF YOUTH SUICIDE AND PROVIDING RESOURCES AIMED AT IMPROVING MENTAL HEALTH. I STRONGLY BELIEVE IN BEING PROACTIVE, SO I THINK WE NEED TO HAVE MORE CONVERSATIONS WITH OUR CHILDREN ABOUT, YOU KNOW, WHAT SUICIDE IS, HOW TO RECOGNIZE THE WARNING SIGNS OF SUICIDE, AND HOW TO INTERVENE WITH SOMEONE THAT’S DEALING WITH AN ISSUE OR THAT MAY BE IN CRISIS. MICHAELA MOORE, HARRIS IS EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR OF FINE ARTS FIND LIFE, AN ORGANIZATION AIMED AT PROVIDING AN ACTUAL SPACE FOR OTHER AGENCIES TO REACH YOUNG PEOPLE TO ADDRESS THINGS LIKE MENTAL HEALTH AND SUICIDE. AN ACTIVITY, AN EVENT WHERE TEENS COULD HAVE A GREAT TIME. YOU KNOW, SOMETIMES IT’S LIKE VEGETABLES. YOU KNOW, YOU HAVE TO PUT CHOCOLATE ON VEGETABLES OR, YOU KNOW, MAKE IT FUN. SO THEY DON’T REALIZE THEY’RE RECEIVING INFORMATION THAT IS BENEFICIAL TO THEM. THE ALABAMA DEPARTMENT OF MENTAL HEALTH SAYS THERE HAS BEEN A GREATER AWARENESS ABOUT TEEN SUICIDE SINCE THE START OF THE COVID 19 PANDEMIC IN EARLY 2020. AT THE SAME TIME, THOSE EARLY MONTHS REALLY TOOK A TOLL DURING THE PANDEMIC. WE HAD MANY INDIVIDUALS TO HAVE TO SELF ISOLATE. AND SOME OTHER WARNING SIGNS TO BE ON THE LOOKOUT FOR, ACCORDING TO EXPERTS. DEPRESSION AND ANXIETY, LOSING INTEREST IN ACTIVITIES YOU NORMALLY LIKE DOING AND GIVING AWAY YOUR PERSONAL BELONGINGS. LIVE IN BIRMINGHAM
Suicides and homicides among young Americans jumped early in pandemic, study says
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Updated: 12:06 PM EDT Jun 15, 2023
The homicide rate for older U.S. teenagers rose to its highest point in nearly 25 years during the COVID-19 pandemic, and the suicide rate for adults in their early 20s was the worst in more than 50 years, government researchers said Thursday.Video above: COVID-19 pandemic increases awareness about youth suicideThe Centers for Disease Control and Prevention report examined the homicide and suicide rates among 10- to 24-year-olds from 2001 to 2021.The increase is alarming and "reflects a mental health crisis among young people and a need for a number of policy changes," said Dr. Steven Woolf, a Virginia Commonwealth University researcher who studies U.S. death trends and wasn't involved in the CDC report.Experts cited several possible reasons for the increases, including higher rates of depression, limited availability of mental health services and the number of guns in U.S. homes.Guns were used in 54% of suicides and 93% of homicides among the age group in 2021, the most recent year for which statistics were available."Picture a teenager sitting in their bedroom feeling desperate and making a decision, impulsively, to take their own life," Woolf said. If they have access to a gun, "it's game over."Suicide and homicide were the second and third leading causes of death for 10- to 24-year-olds, after a category of accidental deaths that included motor vehicle crashes, falls, drownings and overdoses. Other researchers have grouped the data by the method of death and concluded that guns are now the biggest killer of U.S. children.Earlier this year, Woolf and other researchers looking at CDC data noted dramatic increases in child and adolescent death rates overall at the beginning of the pandemic and found suicide and homicide were essential factors.The report also found:Suicide and homicide death rates remained far higher for older teenagers and young adults than they were for 10- to 14-year-olds.In 2021, there were about 2,900 suicides in youths ages 10 to 19, and 4,200 in 20- to 24-year-olds. About 3,000 homicide deaths were reported in the younger group, and nearly 3,900 in the adults in their early 20s.The homicide death rate jumped from 8.9 deaths per 100,000 teens aged 15 to 19 in 2019 to 12.3 in 2020. It rose to 12.8 deaths per 100,000 in 2021, the highest since 1997, according to CDC data.Homicide deaths became more common than suicide deaths among 15- to 19-year-olds, while suicide was more common in the younger and older age groups.While large increases were seen in homicide rates for young Black and Hispanic people in the U.S., there were no significant increases for their white counterparts, other CDC data shows.Among 20- to 24-year-olds, the homicide death rate jumped 34% from 2019 to 2020 — from 13.4 per 100,000 population to 18 per 100,000. It held stable in 2021, but the suicide rate rose enough in 2021 — to 19.4 per 100,000 — to surpass the homicide rate.Suicide death rates in children and teens were rising before COVID-19, but they jumped up at the beginning of the pandemic. Dr. Madhukar Trivedi, a psychiatrist at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, said the reasons may be hard to pinpoint, but that isolation during COVID-19 lockdowns could be a factor."There is a misperception that if you talk to young people about depression, they'll get depressed. A don't-ask, don't-tell policy for depression is not effective," Trivedi said. "The earlier we can identify the ones who need help, the better chance we'll have at saving lives."
The homicide rate for older U.S. teenagers rose to its highest point in nearly 25 years during the COVID-19 pandemic, and the suicide rate for adults in their early 20s was the worst in more than 50 years, government researchers said Thursday.
Video above: COVID-19 pandemic increases awareness about youth suicide
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention report examined the homicide and suicide rates among 10- to 24-year-olds from 2001 to 2021.
The increase is alarming and "reflects a mental health crisis among young people and a need for a number of policy changes," said Dr. Steven Woolf, a Virginia Commonwealth University researcher who studies U.S. death trends and wasn't involved in the CDC report.
Experts cited several possible reasons for the increases, including higher rates of depression, limited availability of mental health services and the number of guns in U.S. homes.
Guns were used in 54% of suicides and 93% of homicides among the age group in 2021, the most recent year for which statistics were available.
"Picture a teenager sitting in their bedroom feeling desperate and making a decision, impulsively, to take their own life," Woolf said. If they have access to a gun, "it's game over."
Suicide and homicide were the second and third leading causes of death for 10- to 24-year-olds, after a category of accidental deaths that included motor vehicle crashes, falls, drownings and overdoses. Other researchers have grouped the data by the method of death and concluded that guns are now the biggest killer of U.S. children.
Earlier this year, Woolf and other researchers looking at CDC data noted dramatic increases in child and adolescent death rates overall at the beginning of the pandemic and found suicide and homicide were essential factors.
The report also found:
- Suicide and homicide death rates remained far higher for older teenagers and young adults than they were for 10- to 14-year-olds.
- In 2021, there were about 2,900 suicides in youths ages 10 to 19, and 4,200 in 20- to 24-year-olds. About 3,000 homicide deaths were reported in the younger group, and nearly 3,900 in the adults in their early 20s.
- The homicide death rate jumped from 8.9 deaths per 100,000 teens aged 15 to 19 in 2019 to 12.3 in 2020. It rose to 12.8 deaths per 100,000 in 2021, the highest since 1997, according to CDC data.
- Homicide deaths became more common than suicide deaths among 15- to 19-year-olds, while suicide was more common in the younger and older age groups.
- While large increases were seen in homicide rates for young Black and Hispanic people in the U.S., there were no significant increases for their white counterparts, other CDC data shows.
- Among 20- to 24-year-olds, the homicide death rate jumped 34% from 2019 to 2020 — from 13.4 per 100,000 population to 18 per 100,000. It held stable in 2021, but the suicide rate rose enough in 2021 — to 19.4 per 100,000 — to surpass the homicide rate.
Suicide death rates in children and teens were rising before COVID-19, but they jumped up at the beginning of the pandemic. Dr. Madhukar Trivedi, a psychiatrist at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, said the reasons may be hard to pinpoint, but that isolation during COVID-19 lockdowns could be a factor.
"There is a misperception that if you talk to young people about depression, they'll get depressed. A don't-ask, don't-tell policy for depression is not effective," Trivedi said. "The earlier we can identify the ones who need help, the better chance we'll have at saving lives."
