A new study published by Pediatrics shows that Black teens have become more prone to suicide attempts within the past two years. The years of 1991-2017 show that self-reported suicide attempts had a decline for other ethnic groups except for Black youth. The data was collected from 200,000 high school students and researchers say it's due to the mental health stigma in the Black community and Black children being less likely to receive mental health support in comparison to their white counterparts.
"For Black boys, a significant increase in injury by attempt occurred, which suggests that Black boys may be engaging in increasingly lethal means when attempting suicide," the study reads. The official percentage increase is 73% - the percentage of Black boys who admitted to attempting suicide.
"Kids are telling us something," Michael A. Lindsey, PhD, lead researcher on the study told CBS News. "Particularly black kids are saying that they're engaging in higher rates of attempts and I think that is something that every citizen in America should be concerned about."
Suicide is the second leading cause of death among youth ages 12 to 18-years-old and in 2017 alone it acounted for more than 2200 deaths in America.