5 ms·

One-third of US teen girls seriously considered attempting suicide in 2021: CDC

21 points by xqcgrek2 4y ago

smeej 4y ago
We're talking about an increase from 1/9 to 1/8 who have attempted suicide, not just considered. I don't know what the baseline has been over the generations, but being in double-digit percentages is astounding.
erulabs 4y ago
I can’t imagine who would suffer more, psychologically, from social media, than young women. I won’t pretend to guess at other causes. One thing that I’ve noticed in Gen Z is this repeated “I don’t feel like myself” sentiment. If any young person out there is struggling with that thought: you’re not alone. I don’t feel like myself. I wish I was someone else all the time. This is the human condition, and we should celebrate it. Feeling out of place and time doesn’t make you a weirdo - it makes you intelligent. Hang in there!
- williamcotton 4y ago
  Wish I were down On some blue bayou With a bamboo cane Stuck in the sand But the road I’m on Don’t seem to go there So I just dream Keep on being the way that I am The way I am Don’t fit my shackles The way I am Reality I can almost see That bobber dancing So I just dream Keep on being the way that I am
  - williamcotton 4y ago
    Not a lot of Merle Haggard fans on these forums, I guess…
- onlypositive 4y ago
  Humans are social animals. Feeling out of place is our evolution telling us to find a group and figure out how to fit in. It's kind of weird how we try to fight this basic human need.
kbelder 4y ago
Hm, I went looking for some stats, and it was kind of hard to find actual numbers. Lots of 'rates increased XX%', or 'XX% via firearms'. But I did find that the suicide rate in 2021 was 14 per 100,000. That's general population. I don't know the rate for teen girls, but I'd accept that it may be several times higher. Say, 50 per 100,000, or about 0.05%. (Although I've also heard that male suicide rate is higher than female.) That would mean that of those girls that 'seriously considered attempting suicide' in 2021, only around 0.15% of them actually did it. I'd obviously be concerned if a girl expressed that she thought about killing herself; whatever is causing her torment needs to be corrected. But still, when numbers like 'one third' are tossed around, it needs to be recognized that 99.9% of them don't do it.
- deleted 4y ago
  [deleted]
- ajuc 4y ago
  This article is outrageously bad. Fragmentary data without including all the groups, presenting the totals, or even presenting the most important data (actually committed suicides). Ignoring the fact that among the subgroups it's highly likely that reported "suicidal thoughts" will be biased by cultural factors.
- _2uwr 4y ago
  [dead]
xyzzy4747 4y ago
Undoubtedly it’s the social media effect. In my opinion it seems that as the more information technology progresses, the less time people spend actually face-to-face with each other, and they sink into depressive thoughts for a variety of reasons. Especially teenagers whose minds haven’t fully developed. I’m not advocating the Amish lifestyle, but I’d bet anything that Amish teenagers have much less mental issues than today’s youth. But I think in terms of mental health at least, the luddites are right.
- WarOnPrivacy 4y ago
  > Undoubtedly it’s the social media effect. I have some doubt. Eight-in-ten teens say that what they see on social media makes them feel more connected to what's going on in their friends' lives, while 71% say it makes them feel like they have a place where they can show their creative side. And 67% say these platforms make them feel as if they have people who can support them through tough times. A smaller share - though still a majority – say the same for feeling more accepted. These positive sentiments are expressed by teens across demographic groups. When asked about the overall impact of social media on them personally, more teens say its effect has been mostly positive (32%) than say it has been mostly negative (9%). The largest share describes its impact in neutral terms: 59% believe social media has had neither a positive nor a negative effect on them. For teens who view social media's effect on them as mostly positive, many describe maintaining friendships, building connections, or accessing information as main reasons they feel this way, with one teen saying: "It connects me with the world, provides an outlet to learn things I otherwise wouldn't have access to, and allows me to discover and explore interests." - Teen girl ref:https://www.pewresearch.org/internet/2022/11/16/connection-creativity-and-drama-teen-life-on-social-media-in-2022/ https://www.pewresearch.org/internet/2022/11/16/connection-c... For a few years we've had studies come out about teen mental health and social media. They'll read something like 33% report harm, 33% report benefit while 33% show neither. The headlines nearly unanimously read as "33% of youth report varying levels of harm while another third show no benefit at all." The remaining third doesn't even get a squeak in the articles. I have no love for social media and the odd HN post is about as close as I get. But I also have no love for the snipe hunt that is One Single Cause for long-building, complex, multi-faceted problems.
ajuc 4y ago
What was included: - fragmentary stats about considering suicide and attempted suicide within a choosen few specific groups What was not included: - how many attempts actually succeeded - what were the stats in the whole population and within other groups Meanwhile: > A total of 5,568 youth living in the United States died by suicide during the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020. The majority of youth decedents were male (79.2%), non-Hispanic White (59.6%) and died by firearm (51.1%). [1] Somehow when they kill themselves it's fine, not even worth mentioning, but when women "consider killing themselves" it's a big problem. [1] https://www.nationwidechildrens.org/newsroom/news-releases/2023/02/bridge_ruch_youthsuicide_pandemic https://www.nationwidechildrens.org/newsroom/news-releases/2...
- HPsquared 4y ago
  Such is life

21 points by xqcgrek2 4y ago

We're talking about an increase from 1/9 to 1/8 who have attempted suicide, not just considered. I don't know what the baseline has been over the generations, but being in double-digit percentages is astounding.

erulabs 4y ago

I can’t imagine who would suffer more, psychologically, from social media, than young women. I won’t pretend to guess at other causes. One thing that I’ve noticed in Gen Z is this repeated “I don’t feel like myself” sentiment. If any young person out there is struggling with that thought: you’re not alone. I don’t feel like myself. I wish I was someone else all the time. This is the human condition, and we should celebrate it. Feeling out of place and time doesn’t make you a weirdo - it makes you intelligent. Hang in there!

williamcotton 4y ago
Wish I were down On some blue bayou With a bamboo cane Stuck in the sand But the road I’m on Don’t seem to go there So I just dream Keep on being the way that I am The way I am Don’t fit my shackles The way I am Reality I can almost see That bobber dancing So I just dream Keep on being the way that I am
- williamcotton 4y ago
  Not a lot of Merle Haggard fans on these forums, I guess…
onlypositive 4y ago
Humans are social animals. Feeling out of place is our evolution telling us to find a group and figure out how to fit in. It's kind of weird how we try to fight this basic human need.

kbelder 4y ago

Hm, I went looking for some stats, and it was kind of hard to find actual numbers. Lots of 'rates increased XX%', or 'XX% via firearms'. But I did find that the suicide rate in 2021 was 14 per 100,000. That's general population. I don't know the rate for teen girls, but I'd accept that it may be several times higher. Say, 50 per 100,000, or about 0.05%. (Although I've also heard that male suicide rate is higher than female.) That would mean that of those girls that 'seriously considered attempting suicide' in 2021, only around 0.15% of them actually did it. I'd obviously be concerned if a girl expressed that she thought about killing herself; whatever is causing her torment needs to be corrected. But still, when numbers like 'one third' are tossed around, it needs to be recognized that 99.9% of them don't do it.

deleted 4y ago
[deleted]
ajuc 4y ago
This article is outrageously bad. Fragmentary data without including all the groups, presenting the totals, or even presenting the most important data (actually committed suicides). Ignoring the fact that among the subgroups it's highly likely that reported "suicidal thoughts" will be biased by cultural factors.
_2uwr 4y ago
[dead]

xyzzy4747 4y ago

Undoubtedly it’s the social media effect. In my opinion it seems that as the more information technology progresses, the less time people spend actually face-to-face with each other, and they sink into depressive thoughts for a variety of reasons. Especially teenagers whose minds haven’t fully developed. I’m not advocating the Amish lifestyle, but I’d bet anything that Amish teenagers have much less mental issues than today’s youth. But I think in terms of mental health at least, the luddites are right.

WarOnPrivacy 4y ago
> Undoubtedly it’s the social media effect. I have some doubt. Eight-in-ten teens say that what they see on social media makes them feel more connected to what's going on in their friends' lives, while 71% say it makes them feel like they have a place where they can show their creative side. And 67% say these platforms make them feel as if they have people who can support them through tough times. A smaller share - though still a majority – say the same for feeling more accepted. These positive sentiments are expressed by teens across demographic groups. When asked about the overall impact of social media on them personally, more teens say its effect has been mostly positive (32%) than say it has been mostly negative (9%). The largest share describes its impact in neutral terms: 59% believe social media has had neither a positive nor a negative effect on them. For teens who view social media's effect on them as mostly positive, many describe maintaining friendships, building connections, or accessing information as main reasons they feel this way, with one teen saying: "It connects me with the world, provides an outlet to learn things I otherwise wouldn't have access to, and allows me to discover and explore interests." - Teen girl ref:https://www.pewresearch.org/internet/2022/11/16/connection-creativity-and-drama-teen-life-on-social-media-in-2022/ https://www.pewresearch.org/internet/2022/11/16/connection-c... For a few years we've had studies come out about teen mental health and social media. They'll read something like 33% report harm, 33% report benefit while 33% show neither. The headlines nearly unanimously read as "33% of youth report varying levels of harm while another third show no benefit at all." The remaining third doesn't even get a squeak in the articles. I have no love for social media and the odd HN post is about as close as I get. But I also have no love for the snipe hunt that is One Single Cause for long-building, complex, multi-faceted problems.

ajuc 4y ago

What was included: - fragmentary stats about considering suicide and attempted suicide within a choosen few specific groups What was not included: - how many attempts actually succeeded - what were the stats in the whole population and within other groups Meanwhile: > A total of 5,568 youth living in the United States died by suicide during the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020. The majority of youth decedents were male (79.2%), non-Hispanic White (59.6%) and died by firearm (51.1%). [1] Somehow when they kill themselves it's fine, not even worth mentioning, but when women "consider killing themselves" it's a big problem. [1] https://www.nationwidechildrens.org/newsroom/news-releases/2023/02/bridge_ruch_youthsuicide_pandemic https://www.nationwidechildrens.org/newsroom/news-releases/2...

HPsquared 4y ago
Such is life