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The risk of committing suicide is lower for the overarching group labeled “Asian youth” compared to non-Asian peers (9.17 deaths per 100,000 compared to 10.77 per 100,000). But researchers at Seattle Children’s Research Institute’s Center for Child Health, Behavior and Development say lumping all Asian kids into a single group leads to missing the trees for the forest.

According to new institute research, Asian youth suicide rates differ among ethnic subgroups, including Chinese, Filipino, Indian, Korean, Vietnamese, Indian, Japanese, and others. The new study, published in JAMA Pediatrics and led by Seattle Children’s Anthony L. Bui, MD, MPH, found, for example, that Indian and Chinese youths showed the lowest rate of suicide while Korean and Vietnamese teens showed higher rates.

Averaging data across all subgroups, says Bui, reduces the urgency around providing mental health research and services aimed at understanding and supporting Asian American youth.

Asian ethnic groups are some of the fastest-growing and diverse populations in the nation and state. Each one, Bui points out, has its own language, culture, and other social characteristics.

In Washington, Asian communities make up between 10% and 13% of the state’s population. According to the Washington State Commission Asian Pacific American Affairs, there are 48 district sub-ethnic cultures under the Asian American or Pacific Islander overall groupings.

“The stress from racism and anti-immigrant sentiment is likely a large cause of why there are higher rates of mental illness and suicide among Asian American youth,” Bui says.

This new research pushes against the singular “model minority” stereotype of Asians, especially for kids.

“That is a dangerous and harmful stereotype that continues to persist in our communities and likely has contributed to increased rates of mental illness and suicide among Asian American youth,” Bui says. “This stereotype generalizes Asians to be academically gifted, hardworking, and well-adjusted. The stereotype creates unfair and unrealistic societal pressures on Asian youth to achieve constantly, and it also results in poorer recognition of mental health conditions among Asian youth.”

Further, it places pressure on Asian youth to avoid seeking help for mental health struggles.

Read more at SeattlesChild.com

Nonprofit leaders, academics and people who have experienced homelessness gathered recently at Princeton University to urge the state to provide more immediate mental health services for children and adults living in shelters throughout New Jersey. The event came after two recent reports highlighting the need for more timely mental health services for these populations within the state’s shelter system.

Over 12,600 people in New Jersey were homeless on a single night in late January, according to NJ Counts 2024, the state’s annual point-in-time count of people experiencing homelessness. On the night of the count, 9,525 homeless people stayed in emergency shelters, according to the report. The 2024 count also indicates a 24% increase in the number of people experiencing homelessness in the state compared to last year.

Both parents and shelter staff are frustrated with the barriers and lack of practical awareness of the “incredibly challenging” and complicated lives of homeless people within the current system, such as with transportation, which can make it difficult to attend off-site appointments, the report says. These barriers prevent many children from accessing the mental health care they need to deal with trauma and adverse childhood experiences associated with homelessness. The report by the New York-based Institute for Children, Poverty & Homelessness was developed at the request of the New Jersey Coalition to End Homelessness.

Advocates for homeless people, including Mary Gay Abbott-Young, say that having meetings between behavioral health providers and the “homeless emergency system” is one of the next steps in addressing these issues now that the reports are out.

Read more at NJSpotlightNews.org.

America’s military veterans make up about 6% of the adult population but account for about 20% of all suicides. That means that each day, about 18 veterans will die by suicide. In the U.S., the overall rate of suicide has largely increased since the start of the millennium, but veterans are disproportionately represented among this tragic trend. Each of these losses affects not only the individual but also their families, friends and co-workers. Thus, working to prevent suicide and its underlying causes is important not only to protect our loved ones but also to foster happier, safer communities.

Military veterans range from 18 years of age to more than 100, include both men and women, and represent diverse races and ethnicities. As of 2018, the largest veteran cohort were those who served during the Vietnam War, followed by those who served during peacetime only, the Gulf War and post-9/11 conflicts.

Identifying the true risk of veteran suicide, especially relative to the general population, is a surprisingly difficult task. In past decades, researchers and stakeholders debated about which figures were most accurate, those showing veterans at increased risk or those showing the opposite. Such debates often stemmed from methodological factors.

One reason is that, compared to nonveterans, a greater proportion of veterans are white, male and older – demographic categories with elevated rates of suicide in the general population. For example, in Arizona, about 97% of veteran suicides between 2015 and 2022 were men, compared with 75% in the comparable nonveteran population.

Other explanations relate to veteran-specific factors. Some argue that military training and combat exposure can reduce a person’s fear of pain or death, putting suicidal veterans at greater risk of completing suicide. Military training also familiarizes a person with the use of firearms, a particularly lethal means of suicide. Statistics show that veterans, including female veterans, die by suicide using firearms more so than the general population. This tendency to use firearms as the method of suicide leads to more fatal suicide attempts.

In 1999, then-Surgeon General Dr. David Satcher highlighted suicide as a serious public health crisis, paving the way for tackling the monumental issue on a national scale.

Now, 25 years later, the U.S. government continues to emphasize the increasingly dire situation. Most recently, the Biden administration released a 2024 national strategy aimed at establishing strategic directions for improving mental health treatment and reducing suicide.

Historically, health care facilities operated by the Veterans Health Administration have been a central resource for veterans experiencing mental or physical problems. This continues to be true: While the overall population of veterans is decreasing, the number of veterans who seek resources from the organization has increased. Encounters between veterans and the Veterans Health Administration offer opportunities to screen for suicide risk and offer resources for those in need.

Read more at TheConversation.com.

Several historically marginalized groups and populations face barriers to effective mental health treatment in the United States. These barriers are reasons or obstacles that prevent individuals from seeking, obtaining, or completing mental health treatment. Due to these barriers, these populations may often have negative mental health outcomes.

In the U.S., several historically marginalized groups experience significant mental health disparities. Health disparities are differences in health outcomes between groups of people.

Barriers that can reduce or prevent access to mental health care among these groups include:

• high costs
• lack of insurance or underinsurance
• lack of treatment services in the local area
• distrust in an inequitable healthcare system
• racism and discrimination
• language barriers
• stigma

These barriers often result in worse mental health care, leading to negative mental health outcomes.

In a 2020 research review, researchers referred to an older study that found people in racial-ethnic minority groups were 20% to 50% less likely to initiate mental health service use, and 40% to 80% more likely to prematurely drop out of treatment than other populations. They were also more likely to use psychiatric emergency services and to be involuntarily hospitalized. However, they were less likely to receive regular outpatient care after discharge, meaning their symptoms were more likely to last longer or recur. Research from 2023 states that several historically marginalized groups and under-resourced communities in the U.S. experience significant general health disparities due to racism in healthcare.

Researchers also reviewed mental health treatment barriers among underserved and disenfranchised populations in the U.S. in 2020. The review article notes growing evidence that the mental health services available to LGBTQIA+ individuals are often scarce and may offer inadequate and stigmatizing treatments. It states that negative and stigmatizing attitudes toward LGBTQIA+ people among doctors may stem from prejudice or, more commonly, a lack of knowledge.

Historically marginalized groups experience healthcare disparities that may lead to several barriers to mental health care. These barriers can also reduce the effectiveness of treatment, leading to negative mental health outcomes. Researchers have investigated several of these barriers, which include racism and discrimination in healthcare systems. Several other healthcare disparities may reduce access to the pathways to mental health care. However, research indicates that improving cultural competency can help improve access and outcomes of mental health care services among historically marginalized populations.

Read more at MedicalNewsToday.com