The Rates of Suicide Among African Youth in the Diaspora is Increasing; What are we going to do about It?

BY SIMONE J. SMITH

Despite ongoing efforts, we are still falling short in meeting the mental health needs of the African Caribbean community. This demographic faces unique challenges, including: cultural stigma, lack of representation among mental health professionals, and systemic barriers to accessing care. What does this mean? It means that mental health issues within our community are still unaddressed, or improperly managed, and this continued neglect not only exacerbates existing problems, but also hinders progress towards equitable mental health support. Last week, I came across some data that raises alarms about the need to improve and address mental health care for African Caribbean communities in North America, and urgent, targeted action is needed to bridge this gap and ensure that the African Caribbean community receives the care and support they deserve.

New federal data shows that the suicide rate among African American youth ages 10 to 19 surpassed that of their White peers for the first time in 2022, increasing 54% since 2018, compared to a 17% decrease for White youth. An unfortunate fact is that the suicide rate among African American adolescents is increasing faster than other racial and ethnic groups. From 2007 to 2020, the suicide rate rose 144% among 10- to 17-year-olds who are African American.

The data that I found for this article was downloaded from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s (CDC’s) WONDER database on February 5th, 2024. Data from 2018-2022 was downloaded from “Multiple Cause of Death (Provisional).” Data was downloaded for each year separately and disaggregated (separating into component parts or distinct elements) by: race, ethnicity, and single-year age groups. If the disaggregated data had fewer than 10 deaths in the category, that data was suppressed by the CDC and not included in this analysis.

In a 2019 report to Congress, there were some recommendations that were provided to address this crisis, including best and promising practices to improve how health care providers can better meet the needs of African American youth experiencing suicidality (the risk of suicide, usually indicated by suicidal ideation or intent). The three strategies include: increasing cultural awarenes among health care providers, increasing the use of suicide screening tools, and conducting more research to understand risk factors of suicide amongst African Americans.

Increasing Cultural Awareness

There needs to be more training when it comes to implicit and unconscious biases and in identifying signs of depression and suicidal behaviors in different racial and ethnic groups. Research shows that Black youth may express symptoms of depression—a risk factor for suicide—differently than their White peers. Things that parents should be aware of are behaviors such as: anger, aggression, or irritability, as opposed to sadness or lack of interest in daily activities, which is how it manifests in White youth.

When mental health providers are not trained to provide culturally competent care, certain behaviors are too often misclassified and met with extreme, or inappropriate responses, including: inpatient (rather than outpatient) treatment, or disproportionate disciplinary actions. What does this produce? A deepened cultural mistrust of the very system that is supposed to help them.

Increasing the use of Suicide Risk screening Tools and Interventions

Again, a lot of people in the diaspora are not receiving the care they need to reduce their risk of suicide.

Research shows that only 32% of African American youth who committed suicide had a mental health care visit in the year before their death, yet nearly 78% interacted with the overall health care system. A question that comes to mind is, what is being discussed during these visits with their health care professional? Health care providers must understand that they are uniquely positioned to identify and support adolescents experiencing suicidality, yet among Black youth, symptoms of suicidality are still under- or misdiagnosed.

The American Academy of Pediatrics issued a recommendation in 2022 that all pediatric providers screen patients 12 years old and older for suicide risk at least once a year. The recommendation continued to say that while screening is a vital first step, connecting at-risk individuals to appropriate, accessible follow-up care, and ensuring that they adhere to treatment is imperative to suicide prevention.

Understanding Suicide Risk Factors

As African American youth suicide rates continue to climb, additional research is needed to better understand the circumstances that increase, or can protect against suicide risk—specific to our communities. Authors of the 2019 report to Congress called for increased federal funding and resources for studies on risk factors. Since the report, the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) has allocated more research dollars to address the issue, and other advocacy organizations are stepping up to the plate with attention and resources.

Unfortunately, the rising rates of suicide behaviors in African American children and adolescents have continued and as a community, we have to work together to gain a better understanding of this trend, and how to design effective community interventions for our young people.