Citation

Goldstein EV, Wilson FA. AJPM Focus 2022; 1(2): e100038.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2022, American Journal of Preventive Medicine Board of Governors, Publisher Elsevier Publishing)

DOI

10.1016/j.focus.2022.100038

PMID

unavailable

Abstract

Anti-immigrant political rhetoric has increased in the U.S. since 2015,1,2 inciting new concerns about the health and well-being of Hispanic and Latino immigrants. Of particular worry is the current state of untreated mental illness and suicide risk in Hispanic immigrant communities. From traditional media outlets, there have been reports of despair among immigrant youth and tragic stories of deportation fears leading to suicide contagion haunting entire Hispanic communities.3 However, alarmingly little is understood about the current burden of suicidal ideation, attempts, and deaths among authorized or unauthorized Hispanic immigrants living in the U.S. in relation to the rise in anti-immigrant sentiment.4

Although suicide death is more common among non-Hispanic White persons, we know from violent death surveillance data that Hispanic suicide rates rose by 26.6% from 2015 to 2020, compared with an increase of 0.13% in non-Hispanic suicide rates over the same period.5 Older estimates from the Collaborative Psychiatric Epidemiology Surveys suggest that about 7.8% and 2.9% of 566 Mexican-born migrants living across the U.S. experienced suicidal ideation and attempted suicide, respectively, from 2001 to 2003.6 A more recent survey (2018-2019) of adolescents from Michigan and Virginia showed an association between being born outside the U.S. and suicidal ideation; however, most of the study's participants were from the Middle East and North Africa.7

We do not know how much of the rise in Hispanic suicide rates is attributable to immigrant deaths. We also do not understand how suicide and suicidal ideation changed for different Hispanic immigrant populations since 2015, coinciding with a rise in anti-immigrant political sentiment and policymaking. Without action to either improve public health surveillance or leverage existing data sources with immigration status information to better understand the burden of suicide death and suicide risks among Hispanic immigrants, we may fail to prevent unnecessary loss of life...

Language: en

Keywords

health disparity; health policy; immigrant health; Suicide