Joy Reid is not a major factor in teen suicide. But guns are.

[struggle4progress]

15. The social isolation theories make sense: rates are higher for men than for women;

are higher in rural areas; and are actually highest for the aging and elderly

Perhaps 5800 youth 15-24 take their own lives each year, which would be about an eighth of all US suicides. Major indicators of risk apparently include untreated mental illness, substance abuse, and aggressive behavior towards others

Judging mortality risks from reported suicide attempts is trickier, because attempt behaviors vary by gender and ethnicity, and because of possible self-reporting bias

Self-reporting would suggest about 1.8 million nonlethal suicide attempts among high school students each year; the same self-reporting suggests about 0.6 million of these attempts required medical attention; while CDC self-harm estimates from hospital reports suggest 0.09 million nonlethal attempts in this age required medical attention (with females accounting for about two-thirds of the cases)

Firearms are of special concern due to their lethality: fewer than 4000 cases of nonlethal self-harm with a firearm appear to occur in the US each year, compared to perhaps 23000 cases of firearm suicide