Article Reflection No. 41 (2/11/2023)

Article: Following a Two-Year Decline, Suicide Rates Rose Again in 2021

Reflection:

In the article “Following a Two-Year Decline, Suicide Rates Rose Again in 2021”, journalist Ellen Barry describes the patterns of suicide rates. To introduce this topic, Barry informs readers that, in 2021, a two-year suicide rate decline came to a stop, with more victims being younger colored people. As the article progresses, connections with ethnicity are shown through statistics, such as how young black people faced a 36.6% increase in suicide rates from 2018 to 2021. To delve deeper into the possible reasons behind these types of patterns, the writer emphasizes on mental health as a main issue as she mentions how, although there was an anticipated rise in suicide rates through the COVID-19 pandemic, the percentage decreased in 2020. Dr. Christine Moutier, an American Foundation for Suicide Prevention chief medical officer, offers insight into this by noting that “collective emergencies bring a ‘retrenching, with psychological girding and resilience and working against a common enemy’” (Barry 13).

Since the past few years has also included the rise of protests for social justice, I wonder if the pattern has a connection to that in any way. What factors most influence these rates, other than mental health? It is also interesting how the suicide rate decreased in the year that is known as the height of the pandemic—2020. I thought that there would be higher rates in 2020 because of the isolation and transition from a non-coronavirus lifestyle to one of the virus, so this surprises me.

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