COLORADO, USA — After years of historically high suicide rates among teenagers, there is some encouraging data in a new report looking at the landscape of youth mental health in Colorado.
The 2023 KIDS COUNT! in Colorado report shows the suicide rate for older teenagers is dropping.
The report, made by Colorado Children’s Campaign, was shared this week. It's published annually to track trends in education, health and well-being for Colorado kids.
The data found that teenage suicide rate for kids between ages 15-19 declined by 30%, from 83 deaths in 2019 down to 56 in 2022.
“Any little bit of progress is worth celebrating. And I think it’s worth looking into what was behind that decrease so we can make sure we’re keeping up the momentum and supporting our young people and their families so that we hopefully can keep celebrating declines in the future,” said Sarah Hughes, who authored the report.
Meanwhile, the suicide rate for children between ages 10-14 remained steady during that same time period.
The data also shows areas where challenges are increasing in severity.
Between 2016 and 2021, the number of children who went to the emergency room for a mental health-related emergency more than doubled. The number of children who went to the ER for self-harm more than tripled.
Back in 2021, Children’s Hospital Colorado declared a mental health emergency following a surge in youth suicide attempts.
“I think these numbers really bear out what we’re hearing from nurses and physicians on the ground that we do have an urgent need for better support for youth who are seeking mental health treatment,” Hughes said. “Emergency rooms are just not equipped to provide support that we know kids need. We need to be thinking about, how can we provide access to that treatment in places we know kids already are, like schools. So that [way], we are meeting them where it's easiest for them to get that care before they reach that point of crisis."
The report also shares demographic data about youth suicide rates, including differences among boys and girls and race and ethnicity. It also looks at geographic location, finding lower suicide rates in certain high country counties (Eagle, Garfield, Grand, Pitkin and Summit), and the highest rates among counties in the southwestern corner of the state (Archuleta, Dolores, La Plata, Montezuma and San Juan).
“Those are also places where we see much higher rates of things like child poverty, other challenges that we know are really interwoven with youth mental health,” Hughes explained. “That really speaks to the fact that we can’t just look at solutions like increasing access to counselors or mental health professionals as the only answer. Those efforts are super important, but we also have to be more proactive in making sure families can meet basic needs – making sure they have access to transportation and childcare and all those things that reduce family stress levels to a level they can be mentally healthy.”
Data around youth mental health is just one portion of this 171-page report. You can find a summary of the 2023 Kids Count! In Colorado on the Colorado Children’s Campaign website, or read the entire report here.
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