The suicide rate among teenagers and young adults spiked in the decade between 2007 and 2017, jumping more than 50%.
People ages 10 to 24 rarely died by suicide compared to other age groups, and the group’s suicide rate remained relatively stable until the late 2000s when it began increasing, according to a government report by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention released on Thursday.
In 2007, suicide accounted for 6.8 deaths per 100,000 young people. By 2017, that number had risen to 10.6 per 100,000 young people, a 56% increase.
“Just looking at these numbers, it’s hard not to find them completely disturbing. It should be a call to action,” National Institute of Mental Health pediatric psychologist Lisa M. Horowitz said. “If you had kids suddenly dying at these rates from a new disease or infection, there would be a huge outcry. But most people don’t even know this is happening. It’s not recognized for the public health crisis it has become.”
Suicide is the second leading cause of death among teens aged 15 to 19 behind accidents. Homicide used to be the second leading cause of death, but the increase in suicides and a slight drop in homicides over the decade led to the flip.
Cases of homicide are also trending upward, however. Homicides dropped by 23% from 2007 to 2014 before rising by 18% through 2017.
“The chances of a person in this age range dying by suicide is greater than homicide, when it used to be the reverse,” said statistician Sally Curtin, one of the authors of the CDC report. “When a leading cause of death among our youth is increasing, it behooves all of us to pay attention and figure out what’s going on.”
