Leading causes of death among teenagers aged 15-19 years in the United States 2020-21

As of 2021, the third leading cause of death among teenagers aged 15 to 19 years in the United States was intentional self-harm or suicide, contributing around 18 percent of deaths among age group. The leading cause of death at that time was unintentional injuries, contributing to around 37.9 percent of deaths, while 21 percent of all deaths in this age group were due to assault or homicide. Cancer and heart disease, the overall leading causes of death in the United States, are also among the leading causes of death among U.S. teenagers.

Adolescent suicide in the United States

In 2021, around 22 percent of students in grades 9 to 12 reported that they had seriously considered attempting suicide in the past year. Female students were around twice as likely to report seriously considering suicide compared to male students. As of 2020, there were around 11 suicide deaths per 100,00 teenagers in the United States. At that time, Idaho had the highest rate of suicides among U.S. teenagers with around 25 deaths per 100,000 teenagers, followed by Colorado with a rate of 23 per 100,000. The states with the lowest death rates among adolescents are New York and Massachusetts.

Mental health treatment

Suicidal thoughts are a clear symptom of mental health issues. Mental health issues are not rare among children and adolescents and treatment for such issues has become increasingly accepted and accessible. In 2021, around 15 percent of boys and girls aged 5 to 17 years had received some form of mental health treatment in the past year. At that time, around 35 percent of youths aged 12 to 17 years in the United States who were receiving specialty mental health services were doing so because they had thought about killing themselves or had already tried to kill themselves.