Suicides among Blacks and other ethnic groups in Cook County are the lowest in five years, according to a Crusader analysis of data from the Cook County Medical Examiner’s Office.
Since 2020, a total of 2,308 Cook County residents have taken their own lives. That includes 1,379 whites, 460 Blacks, 343 Latinos and 114 Asians.
But a Crusader examination of the latest data shows that suicides are down among all ethnic groups as of October 15 this year. The numbers are the lowest in the last five previous years when compared to this time of the year.
So far in 2024, 340 Cook County residents died by suicide. In 2023, about 428 people took their lives from January to mid-October. In the same time frame, in 2022, about 389 people in Cook County died by suicide. In 2021, the number was 407 and in 2020, it was 374.
In 2024, about 60 Black people in Cook County took their lives, including an 11-year-old boy in Richton Park who hung himself. By mid-October 2023, that number was higher, with 88 Blacks dying by suicide. In 2022 during the same time frame, 98 Blacks took their own lives. In 2021, the number was 81 and in 2020, about 82 Blacks died by suicide.
Suicides in 2024 are also lower among other Cook County ethnic groups than previous years ending in mid-October. So far this year, 54 Latinos died by suicide in Cook County. That’s lower than the number of suicides from January to October 15 in the years 2023, 2022, 2021 and 2022.
The suicide rate among Asians is slightly lower than previous years. About 18 Asians in Cook County took their lives in 2024, but at around this time in the last five years, an average of 19 have died by suicide.
The suicide rate is historically the highest among white residents in Cook County. But in 2024, about 208 white residents took their lives, compared to an average of 234 that have died by suicide this time around every year since 2020.
With low unemployment, a strong economy and declining inflation, these are happier times for many Americans. Still, some suicide rates remain grim. Young Black people continue to die by suicide more than any other age group.
Among the 60 Blacks who died by suicide in 2024 were 51 males and 9 females. Among the age groups, 12 Black residents aged 11 to 20 took their lives this year. And about 152 Blacks aged 21 to 30 died by suicide.
About 75 Black Cook County residents who were between 31 to 40 years old took their lives this year. And there were 88 suicides among Black Cook County residents between 41 to 55 years old.
Since 2020, about 293 Blacks in Cook County aged 10 to 40 died by suicide.
Nationally, a 2024 report from the Congressional Black Caucus Emergency Task Force on Black Youth Suicide and Mental Health shows the suicide rate among Black youth ages 10 to 19 surpassed that of their white peers for the first time in 2022, increasing 54% since 2018, compared to a 17% decrease for White youth. In fact, the suicide rate among Black adolescents is increasing faster than in other racial and ethnic groups. From 2007 to 2020, the suicide rate rose 144% among 10- to 17-year-olds who are Black. Although the overall youth suicide rate is trending downwards, this data raises alarms about the need to improve and address mental health care for Black communities.
Black adolescents are significantly less likely than their peers in other demographic groups to receive mental health care. Researchers attribute this behavior to systemic inequities, including racism and poverty, as well as deeply rooted cultural stigma around mental health, and well-founded cultural mistrust of the health care system.
A 2019 report to Congress put forth recommendations to address this crisis, including best and promising practices to improve how health care providers can better meet the needs of Black youth experiencing suicidality (the risk of suicide, usually indicated by suicidal ideation or intent, especially as evident in the presence of an elaborate suicidal plan).
Three strategies include increasing cultural competency among health care providers, expanding the use of suicide screening tools, and conducting more research to understand risk factors, according to Dr. Michael Lindsey, Dean and Paulette Goddard Professor of Social Work at New York University’s Silver School of Social Work.
Lindsey led the Congressional Black Caucus Emergency Task Force on Black Youth Suicide and Mental Health that produced the report.
If you or someone you know needs help, call or text the Suicide and Crisis Lifeline at 988 or visit 988lifeline.org and click on the chat button.
