MICHEL MARTIN, HOST:
We have some good news this morning about the mental health of young people in the U.S. Suicides among teens and young adults declined after the launch of the 988 National Suicide & Crisis Lifeline in 2022. That is the finding of a new study published in JAMA. NPR Health correspondent Rhitu Chatterjee is here with the findings. Good morning, Rhitu.
RHITU CHATTERJEE, BYLINE: Good morning, Michel.
MARTIN: You know, we've heard so much concerning news about young people's mental health in recent years. So this is very welcome.
CHATTERJEE: Yep.
MARTIN: What kind of a decline in suicide are we talking about?
CHATTERJEE: So suicide deaths in 15- to 34-year-olds fell by 11% between the launch of the lifeline in July 2022 and December 2024. And, you know, that translates to 4,300 fewer suicides during that time compared to what the researchers would've expected based on trends, you know, in prior years. And I spoke with Hannah Wesolowski, the chief advocacy officer at the National Alliance for Mental Illness, or NAMI. And here's what she said about these findings.
HANNAH WESOLOWSKI: I'm deeply hopeful by this data. You know, I think we've all known it's the right thing to do, but this is data validation that the suicide rate for young people and young adults is lower than expected.
CHATTERJEE: You know, Michel, when 988 was created, there was a lot of hope that it would save lives. And this is the first finding suggesting that it indeed may be having an impact.
MARTIN: Do the researchers know that the 988 lifeline was responsible for bringing those suicide deaths down?
CHATTERJEE: Well, you know, the study does not prove causation, but the researchers did find a strong link. They compared youth suicide deaths in this time period in states like North Dakota, Virginia and Indiana that saw the highest rises in people calling 988 with suicides in states like Alabama, Tennessee and Texas that had the lowest call volumes. And here's study author Dr. Anupam Jena at Harvard Medical School.
ANUPAM JENA: The reduction in suicide deaths that we observe is largest in those states where the uptake of the hotline was the greatest.
CHATTERJEE: And those states saw an 18% decline in suicide deaths compared to just 11% in the low-call-volume states.
MARTIN: Rhitu, it just seems quite remarkable that the helpline could have such an impact.
CHATTERJEE: Yeah. However, as NAMI's Hannah Wesolowski notes, that - it's likely not just calling the 988 number that's had an impact. That's because, you know, launching of the number has also been a catalyst for investing more in crisis care. So more people have been hired and trained to take the calls, so wait times are shorter. And communities have invested in local crisis response systems, things like mobile crisis units.
WESOLOWSKI: There are more communities that have those resources that can be dispatched. There's more walk-in centers where people in crisis can go to get immediate resources and short-term stabilization.
CHATTERJEE: And she hopes that with continued investment in 988 and related services, we can save more lives.
MARTIN: Rhitu Chatterjee, thank you so much.
CHATTERJEE: My pleasure.
MARTIN: And if you or someone you know is in crisis or if you're thinking about hurting yourself, you can call or text the Suicide & Crisis Lifeline. It's 988. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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