Black adults who have been exposed to gun violence are more likely to deal with suicidal ideation throughout their lives, according to a Feb. 6 study.
“Our study found that exposure to gun violence, whether experienced directly or indirectly, is associated with increased suicidal thoughts and behaviors among Black adults,” said lead author Daniel Semenza, director of interpersonal violence research at the New Jersey Gun Violence Research Center, in a statement about the research. The center is based at Rutgers Health.
“This suggests a possible connection between interpersonal violence and self-directed violence,” Semenza added.
Previous research has explored how exposure to gun violence increases someone’s chance of being a victim of a shooting. However,“few studies [until this one] have examined the association between gun violence exposure and risk for suicide in the Black population,” the study reads.
Although suicides make up about two-thirds of gun deaths, that fact is not widely known nor regularly reported on by news outlets. And that’s sometimes for good reason — media coverage of suicides has historically been sensational and linked to copycat suicides.
But that doesn’t mean the issue should not be responsibly covered. This study serves as a reminder that while suicide poses a risk to all populations, some people are at a greater risk.
Key study findings
The Rutgers study revealed that nearly 49,000 people died from gun violence in 2021 and that about 85,000 nonfatal shootings occur annually. It also showed that Black people are almost 14 times more likely than their white counterparts to die from firearm homicide.
In 2021, the overall suicide rate among the Black population increased by 44%, according to the study. From 2018 to 2021, the overall suicide rate increased by 37% among Black children and young adults ages 10-24 years. For Black people ages 25 to 44 years old, there was a 23% increase, the study reports.
‘Uniquely high risk’
For their findings, researchers surveyed 3,015 Black adults in the U.S. Of them, 56% had been exposed to at least one type of gun violence and 12% were exposed to at least three types.
“The recent increase in suicide rates among Black Americans calls for a deeper understanding of the underlying causes,” Semenza said in a statement. “It’s crucial to explore how disproportionate exposure to high levels of gun violence may be impacting mental health and contributing to the elevated risk of suicide.”
Researchers also found that being threatened with a gun or knowing someone who had been shot was associated with lifetime suicidal ideation and attempts.
And for the people who had been shot, they were more likely to have made preparations to take their life at least once, researchers learned.
“Given the disproportionate risk of gun violence exposure among Black adults, this means the Black community is experiencing a uniquely high risk of encountering an environment that could lead to tragedy,” said Mike Anestis, executive director of the New Jersey Gun Violence Research Center, in a statement.
Additional resources
- Reporting on Suicide is a great resource for the best practices for covering suicide. Their recommendations are developed by experts in suicide prevention and in collaboration with several international suicide prevention and public health organizations, schools of journalism, media organizations, journalists and internet safety experts.
- Sean Joe, a professor of social development at Washington University in St. Louis, studies suicidal behavior among Black men and boys.
- Johns Hopkins Center for Gun Violence Solutions is always a great resource on gun violence research, including suicide. The center also recently published a report on the risks of suicide among Black youth.
- Contact: Joe McHugh, joemchugh@jhu.edu
- In 2021, I wrote about the risk of suicide for Black youth in St. Louis for The Kansas City Star.
- It’s also responsible to include a message like this at the end of any story about suicide: If you or someone you know is thinking about taking their life, the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline and the Crisis Text Line offer help and resources.
