A new federal report finds that the percentage of adults with suicidal thoughts and attempts remained about the same between 2021 and 2024.
But the analysis of the National Survey on Drug Use and Health did offer some good news: Over that same time period, depression and suicidal thoughts and behaviors in teens declined.
“I think it’s very promising, and we’re very hopeful about it,” says Jill Harkavy-Friedman, senior vice president of research at the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention.
This is the first annual report released by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services since the entire team of scientists in charge of the survey was fired this year by the Trump administration. The federal government has been doing this annual survey for decades. It currently interviews over 70,000 people 12 years and older in households across the United States.