STEVE INSKEEP, HOST:
Teenagers seem to be experiencing fewer suicidal thoughts and behaviors. That's among the new findings from an annual government survey on drug use and mental health. NPR's Rhitu Chatterjee reports this survey represents a significant change from three years earlier.
RHITU CHATTERJEE, BYLINE: The National Survey on Drug Use and Health is decades old. It interviews over 70,000 people 12 years and older in households across the country. The new report shows that the prevalence of serious suicidal thoughts in 12- to 17-year-olds fell from nearly 13% in 2021 to 10% in 2024. Suicide attempts by teens also fell slightly, from 3.6% to 2.7%.
JILL HARKAVY-FRIEDMAN: I think it's very promising, and we're very hopeful about it.
CHATTERJEE: Jill Harkavy-Friedman, a senior vice president of research at the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention. The report doesn't delve into the potential causes for improvement, but Harkavy-Friedman thinks one reason might be that more teens are opening up to others about their suicidal thoughts.
HARKAVY-FRIEDMAN: Just not keeping it inside and just sharing with someone that you're struggling can be helpful.
CHATTERJEE: Plus, she adds, more teens have been seeking help and finding it.
HARKAVY-FRIEDMAN: More and more kids are getting connected with treatment, and those treatments are specific for suicide and suicide prevention.
CHATTERJEE: The report also found that teens with an episode of major depression in the past year also fell during this time, from 21% to 15%. But only 60% with a recent episode of depression got treatment. Hannah Wesolowski is chief of advocacy with the National Alliance for Mental Illness. She notes that 700,000 adolescents did attempt suicide in the past year, and nearly 2.6 million teens had serious thoughts of suicide.
HANNAH WESOLOWSKI: That's 1 in 10 kids, which is still far too high in this country. So we're making progress, but we're not making progress fast enough.
CHATTERJEE: She says access to mental health care remains challenging for Americans, partly due to high out-of-pocket costs and a shortage of mental health care providers. This report is the first one to be released since the entire team of scientists in charge of the survey were let go by the Trump administration. Wesolowski notes something missing in the new report compared to previous years.
WESOLOWSKI: This report does not break out prevalence or treatment rates by race or ethnicity.
CHATTERJEE: Which makes it harder to track access to care in different racial and ethnic groups.
WESOLOWSKI: For example, we know that Black youth suicide rates have been really high and increasing at a rapid pace over the last few years. Are we making progress on that?
CHATTERJEE: A spokesperson from the Department of Health, Andrew Nixon, told NPR in an email that the demographic data, including race and ethnicity, will be published in a forthcoming report. Wesolowski notes that despite the progress in teen mental health in the new data, suicide remains one of the leading causes of death in this country.
WESOLOWSKI: We are putting a lot of money into suicide prevention and mental health services, but the need is so great that we know we need to do more - that this isn't enough.
CHATTERJEE: Rhitu Chatterjee, NPR News.
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INSKEEP: If you or someone you know is in crisis or considering suicide, call or text 988 to reach the Suicide & Crisis Lifeline.
(SOUNDBITE OF MUSIC) Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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