Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Preteen Suicide Rates Rose About 8% Each Year From 2008-22, Study Finds
The suicide rate for U.S. children 8 to 12 years old has steadily climbed in the past decade and a half, with a disproportionate rise among girls, data released Tuesday by the National Institute of Mental Health shows. The findings, published in the journal JAMA Network Open, highlight pervasive issues regarding mental health that affect U.S. children daily, the study authors said. (Malhi, 7/30)
Suicide is a leading cause of death among young people in the United States, and new research suggests that the majority of young people who have died by suicide did not have a documented mental health diagnosis in their medical history. (Howard, 7/30)
Close to 1 in 3 adolescents in the U.S. received mental health treatment in 2023, the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration reported Tuesday, which works out to around 8.3 million young people between the ages of 12 and 17 getting counseling, medication or another treatment. The result is among the findings now released from SAMHSA's National Survey on Drug Use and Health for 2023. The federal agency's sweeping annual poll is closely tracked by mental health and addiction experts. (Tin, 7/30)
College has always been a stressful time for some students, and mental health conditions have been on the rise at many campuses. But researchers said they had no idea it was this bad. Post-traumatic stress disorder diagnoses among college students more than doubled between 2017 and 2022, rising most sharply as the COVID-19 pandemic closed campuses, according to a recent study. (Anderson, 7/30)
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