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Preliminary data shows that suicide rates in the US have fallen slightly from some of the highest levels reported so far last year. experts Let’s just say it’s hard to know exactly why, or whether the decline will continue.
According to provisional data, just over 48,800 suicide deaths were recorded in 2024. Centers for Disease Control and PreventionAbout 500 less than last year.
The overall suicide rate fell to 13.7 per 100,000 people.
Suicides have increased for nearly two decades, except for a two-year decline around the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. They then rise to more than 14 per 100,000 from 2021 to 2023.
Experts caution that suicide – which is expected to be the 10th leading cause of death in the country in 2024 – is complex and efforts may be driven by many factors. Contributors include high rates of depression, limited availability of mental health services, and the availability of guns. According to CDC data, approximately 55% of all suicide deaths involve a firearm.
Rates vary by age groups and locations. For example, the suicide rate for Americans in their late 20s and early 30s dropped significantly in 2024, but remained fairly stable for other age groups. And rates fell in some states in the South middle West But not in the Mountain West.
“There’s still a lot more digging to do as we start to think about what could potentially be responsible for the decline,” said Katherine Keys. columbia university Public health professor who studies suicide.
He said this includes understanding “whether this is a blip on the radar” or the beginning of a longer decline.
It helps that some large health systems — including those run by the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs — have established programs to screen or identify people at risk, said Dr. Christine Moutier, chief medical officer of the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention.
Another possible contributor is the 3-year-old national crisis line that allows anyone to dial 988 to reach a mental health specialist. It has a special option for military veterans, a group at high risk of suicide.
But the Trump administration decided last summer to eliminate that option, which connected callers with a counselor trained in supporting LGBTQ+ people under the age of 25 — another group at high risk.
“I don’t think it’s a good sign that we’re eliminating programs that are designed to reach the most at-risk individuals,” Keyes said.
Suicides are often underreported, said Alexandra Lord, a public health historian at the National Museum of American History, adding that some families are embarrassed to list the death of a loved one as a suicide, and that’s likely true to some extent.
But Moutier said there is less stigma now than there used to be and people are more willing to seek help.
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