A new national survey reveals a startling trend – nearly all US adults agree that more can be done to reduce suicide deaths. Shockingly, over 60% report being personally affected by suicide, with the number steadily rising since 2018. This post delves into the public’s growing awareness and desire for greater suicide prevention efforts, including access to mental healthcare, education, and policy changes.
The Dangerous Trend of Suicide Advocacy
The 2024 Public Perception of Mental Health and Suicide Prevention Poll, a survey conducted by The Harris Poll shares troubling findings about public experience with suicide on a personal level. The most alarming number from the survey, meanwhile, is just how common a fear of suicide has become in adults in America: 61 percent know someone who has considered it, attempted it or even succeeded at taking his own life.
This is a modest improvement from 2018 to 2020 when that number was 55% and before that by about two points from 2016 when the share was at 53%. Of U.S. adults, 25% have even had thoughts of suicide or attempted to kill themselves, the survey shows. These sobering statistics provide hard evidence that the current COVID-19 pandemic has rapidly turned into a global mental health crisis that urgently requires an immediate worldwide response of integrated strategies for suicide prevention.
Public Demand for Action is Overwhelming
These surveys findings imply that Americans indeed understand how serious our suicide crisis is, and that they want more action. Well, 93% of all adults that responded to the survey believe there is more which could be done to prevent and reduce suicide deaths. Among the key issues identified by those individuals were a need to expand mental health care access, additional training for healthcare professionals and greater public awareness about suicide prevention initiatives.
“Making these policy changes and system-wide improvements that are needed to save more lives is going to require channeling the public demand for suicide prevention in order to drive this change. Carr said that message — one of concern to the public as a serious public health issue — should be rallied around and not allowed to slip away.
Barriers to Implementation of Suicide Prevention Efforts
While efforts to prevent suicide continue to garner widespread public support, awareness and understanding of recent initiatives are mixed, the survey found. When the 988 suicide hotline for example launched in 2022, its public awareness rose from 57 % to 63 % but only 33% of adults knew it was created so people might dial rather than die.
Shelby Rowe, executive director of the Suicide Prevention Resource Center, said that sharing and marketing this resource has posed some challenges; like what to say and how to reach out most effectively in various communities — a question for which she says her organization has partnered with SAMHSA directly.
The survey also identified more narrow concerns and barriers to access, particularly for certain demographics such as Native American/Alaska Native respondents who talked about their unique needs that could not be addressed appropriately until a means of addressing that also was place, and likewise with members of the LGBTQ community in addition to 988 education.
