Black Americans have overtaken white Americans in rates of “deaths of despair,” according to a new study published in JAMA Psychiatry. The research shows a dramatic shift in mortality patterns for middle-aged adults from suicide, alcohol abuse, and drug overdoses.
The study found that between 2013 and 2022, the rate of these deaths among Black Americans aged 45-54 nearly tripled from 36.24 to 103.81 per 100,000 population. This surpassed the rate for whites, which stood at 102.63 per 100,000 in 2022.
“Rising inequalities in deaths of despair among American Indian or Alaska Native and Black individuals were largely attributable to disproportionate early mortality from drug- and alcohol-related causes,” the study reports.
American Indian and Alaska Native people faced the highest rates throughout the study period, reaching 241.7 per 100,000 by 2022. Their rate of alcoholic liver disease deaths was over six times higher than whites.
Study co-author Joseph Friedman of UCLA attributes the disparities to socioeconomic inequalities and lack of access to mental health and addiction treatment.
The COVID-19 pandemic exacerbated existing trends, with the sharpest increases seen among Native and Black Americans. Friedman argues the findings highlight the need for increased investment in accessible mental health care and substance abuse treatment.
“We need to specifically make sure that new treatments, services and social programs that attempt to address these issues do so in a way that is accessible for the most affected groups and will reduce inequalities,” Friedman said.
See “Study Shows a Black-White Shift in ‘Deaths of Despair’” (April 15, 2024)
