Averaged-together numbers can hide exactly who needs help first.

What the Aggregate Numbers Hide

National suicide-rate averages can flatten sharp, specific trends. CDC data show the suicide rate rose 29.4% among Black people ages 10-24, 29.2% among ages 25-44, and 17.4% among ages 45-64 between 2021 and 2023. Recent analysis has also found suicide rates among Black young adults ages 20-24 surpassed those among white peers for the first time, while firearm-suicide rates among Black people ages 10-24 remained high.

The Question MB Is Asking Every Institution

Do you publish suicide deaths, attempts, ED visits, and follow-up outcomes by race, ethnicity, language, age, neighborhood, gender identity, disability, and insurance status? Do you track whether someone received follow-up after a 988 call, ED visit, or psychiatric discharge? Which groups go missing because the data was never collected or the categories were too broad to show them?

Why This Is a Knowledge and Health Story Together

This connects directly to MB's broader accountability question, already running across our Equity Receipt and Equity Data Blackout reporting: who disappears in the data. Suicide reporting is no exception and the fix starts with naming exactly which numbers are missing.

CRISIS RESOURCES: If you or someone you know is in crisis, call or text 988 (Suicide & Crisis Lifeline) — 24/7, with Spanish-language and Deaf/Hard-of-Hearing access. BlackLine (1-800-604-5841) offers a crisis line for Black, Brown, Native, Muslim, and Black LGBTQI communities that does not involve law enforcement.

Sources

[1] Notes from the Field: Differences in Suicide Rates, by Race — CDC MMWR, https://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/volumes/74/wr/mm7435a2.htm

[2] Black Suicide Rates Rose 53% Over a Decade — Capital B News, https://capitalbnews.org/young-black-men-suicide-rates/

[3] New CDC Data Show Youth Suicide Rates Are Declining — The Jed Foundation, https://jedfoundation.org/new-cdc-data-show-youth-suicide-rates-are-declining-but-our-work-is-far-from-over/

[4] Suicide Deaths: National Trends and Variation by Demographics and States — KFF, https://www.kff.org/mental-health/suicide-deaths-national-trends-and-variation-by-demographics-and-states/