That Ledge, My Friend: Suicide Rates Among Young People Are Exploding, Why?

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We live in an age where police killings are the 6th leading cause of death for young men and life expectancy for working people over the past several years has been declining. Yet another grim statistic is now generating headlines: the fact that suicide rates among all races of millennials and zoomers is growing. According to the Center for Disease Control, its now increased by a whopping 56% over the last 10 years.

According to PBS:

Suicides are on the rise among young Americans of all races, part of a grim national trend that has contributed to lower life expectancy overall, according to new federal data.

While suicide was the 10th most common cause of death among Americans of all ages in 2017, it was the second leading cause of death among young Americans age 15 to 24, according to new data released Thursday from the National Center for Health Statistics and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

The same article also wrote:

[A] separate study suggests that there are racial disparities in youth suicidal behavior, due in great part because some children lack access to vital resources. The results…published in the journal Pediatrics earlier this week suggested black boys and girls are more likely than their peers in other racial and ethnic groups to report suicidal attempts — and that revelation has mental health experts working to turn those numbers around, and prevent further tragedy.

In short, as studies are showing: the coupling of mass alienation brought on by an increased use of technology and social media, along with skyrocketing inequality, is creating the material conditions for  lower life expectancy and higher suicide rates.

Ironically this rise in suicide is also happening at a time when young people are now more medicated than ever, as doctors continue to shove drugs down our throats as big pharmaceutical companies reap the profits and the opioid crisis explodes.

Wanting to get to the heart of this issue, on this episode of the It’s Going Down podcast, we caught up with two radical health care workers with decades of experiences to ask why are so many young people taking their own lives – and more over, what does this say about the society that is driving them to do so?

More Info: Alternatives to Suicide: Peer Support, Intentional Peer Support, and Harm Reduction Guide to Coming Off Psychiatric Drugs and Withdrawal.