September Is Suicide Prevention Month

What our communities carry, and how we can look out for one another, when we have been told to bury it down.

September is National Suicide Prevention Month. For a lot of us, this is not an easy subject to bring up at the dinner table or at all. In many Latino households, we were raised to aguantarse, to push through, to keep the taboo things private, and sometimes told that they didn't exist. But silence has a cost, and we are not going to be silent for their sake. This month is a reminder that checking in on each other, and on ourselves, is one of the most protective things we can do.

I want to be honest about where I am writing this from. I have never been suicidal. I have lived with depression, and I understand how heavy it can get, how the constant weight of it can start to feel unbearable. That experience is part of why I care about this. When you have felt even the edges of that darkness, you understand why someone might want it to stop. This is written with empathy, not distance.

The numbers, and what they actually tell us

It is easy to look at the topline data and assume our communities are not affected, along with the comments from our households. In 2022, Hispanic and Latino Americans were about 43% less likely to die by suicide than the U.S. population overall. According to the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention (AFSP), the largest private funder of suicide prevention research, there were 48,824 suicide deaths in the U.S. in 2024, at a rate of 13.7 per 100,000 people. And while suicide rates declined slightly for the non-Hispanic community between 2023 and 2024, they stayed unchanged for the Hispanic population.

The longer trend is more concerning. Between 2018 and 2023, CDC data show suicide rates increased among Hispanic and Latino people, even as they decreased among white people. So the risk in our communities is not going down. It is rising. And the deaths are only part of the picture. In 2024, an estimated 14.3 million U.S. adults seriously thought about suicide, 4.6 million made a plan, and 2.2 million attempted.

A few figures impacting the Latino community:

• Young Latinas are especially at risk. In 2023, Hispanic and Latina female high school students were 17% more likely than other U.S. female students to report attempting suicide in the past year.

• Latino men die at far higher rates. In 2020, the suicide death rate for Hispanic males was 4.4 times the rate for Hispanic women, a gap tied to the pressure to stay silent and self-reliant.

• Depression is a major driver. Latina women report depression at higher rates than Latino men, and depression is one of the conditions most associated with suicide risk.

  
  

Why our households hide it

Mental illness has long been treated as something to conceal in Latino families. It gets framed as weakness, as drama, as something you pray away or simply do not talk about. That stigma is not just cultural habit. It is reinforced by real barriers to getting help.

The care gap is stark. In 2023, Hispanic adults were 60% less likely to have received mental health treatment than non-Hispanic white adults. In 2024, Hispanic and Latino adults were 28% less likely than U.S. adults overall to have received treatment in the past year. The problem is not that our communities struggle less. It is that we are far less likely to get help.

The reasons stack on top of each other: language barriers and a shortage of Spanish-speaking providers, lack of health insurance, the cost of care, and a deep mistrust of institutions. When help does get sought, research shows Latinos are more likely to turn to religion, a primary care doctor, or a community organization than to a mental health professional.

Immigrant families and the first generation

Immigration adds its own layer. There is a well-documented pattern researchers call the immigrant paradox: foreign-born Latinos often have fewer mental health disorders than their U.S.-born children. As families become more acculturated, mental health can actually decline, as later generations navigate discrimination, loss of cultural identity, and the strain of living between two worlds.

This shows up in suicide risk directly. Among Latino, Asian American, Pacific Islander, and Black youth, those born in the U.S. have a higher risk of suicidal thoughts and behaviors than first-generation immigrants. In other words, the pressure our parents carried does not disappear. It changes shape and lands on us.

For mixed-status and undocumented families, the stress compounds. Everyday tasks like finding work, housing, and medical care carry uncertainty and risk. Fear of deportation keeps people from seeking care or from being fully honest about what they are going through. Family separation leaves lasting trauma, especially in children. These are not small stressors. They are chronic, and they wear people down.

This crosses cultures

This is not only a Latino story. The same forces of stigma, access, and disparity show up across minority communities, often in even sharper form.

• Native communities carry the heaviest burden. Non-Hispanic American Indian and Alaska Native people have consistently had the highest suicide rates of any group in the U.S.

• Rates are rising among Black Americans. Like Latino communities, Black Americans saw suicide rates increase between 2018 and 2023.

• The steepest recent climb is among Pacific Islanders. The suicide rate for Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander males nearly doubled between 2018 and 2023.

The through line is the same everywhere: where stigma is high and access is low, people suffer in silence and are less likely to survive it.

Prevention works, and it is not complicated

Here is the hopeful part. Suicide is preventable, and the things that help are within reach. AFSP, which was founded in 1987 by survivors of suicide loss and researchers, puts it simply: connection makes a difference. Getting help early is the single most important protective factor. Depression and anxiety are treatable. Therapy works. Medication works for many people. And connection itself is protective.

What actually reduces risk:

• Treatment and early intervention. The sooner someone talks to a professional, the better the outcome. You do not have to be in crisis to reach out.

• Culturally rooted, bilingual care. Care that speaks your language and understands your background makes people far more likely to stay in it.

• Community and belonging. Our cultural values of familismo and confianza, family and trust, are protective when we let them include mental health.

• Reducing access to means and knowing the warning signs. Withdrawal, giving things away, sudden calm after a low period, talking about being a burden. Take these seriously.

  
  

How to actually be there for someone

A lot of people stay quiet because they are afraid of saying the wrong thing. Here is the truth: you do not need the perfect words, and you do not have to bring up suicide to help someone. Caring by simply being present is what matters most.

Some ways to reach out:

• Just show up. Sit with them when they are not feeling good. You do not have to fix anything or even talk about it. Your presence tells them they are not alone.

• Ask simple, real questions. How are you, really? I have noticed you have seemed off, and I am here. Then listen without rushing to solve it.

• Do not minimize. Skip you have so much to live for or others have it worse. Try that sounds really heavy, and I am glad you told me.

• Offer something concrete. Bring food. Go on a walk. Sit and watch a movie. Small, steady gestures carry weight.

• Keep checking in. One text is good. A pattern of texts is better. Consistency says you matter to me, over and over.

• If you are worried they are in danger, ask directly and stay with them. Asking someone if they are thinking about suicide does not plant the idea. It gives them permission to be honest, and it helps them connect to support.

  
  

If you are the one carrying it

If you are reading this and you are the one who is struggling, you are not weak. You are not a burden. What you are feeling is real, and it can get better with support. Reaching out is not failure. It is one of the bravest and hardest things a person can do.

Resources

If you or someone you love is struggling, help is available, and much of it is free and confidential. You do not need insurance or a diagnosis to reach out.

National

• 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline: Call or text 988, 24/7. For Spanish, call 988 and press 2, or text AYUDA to 988.

• Crisis Text Line: Text TALK to 741741 (or AYUDA al 741741 en español).

• American Foundation for Suicide Prevention: afsp.org offers resources for those at risk, survivors of suicide loss, and anyone supporting a loved one.

• NAMI HelpLine: Call 1-800-950-6264, or text 62640, for information and referrals (not a crisis line).

• Trevor Project (LGBTQ+ youth): Call 1-866-488-7386, or text START to 678-678, 24/7.

  
  

Los Angeles County

• LA County Dept. of Mental Health Help Line: 1-800-854-7771, 24/7, in more than a dozen languages, for crisis support, screening, and referrals to services.

• Didi Hirsch Suicide Prevention Center: 1-877-727-4747, 24/7 crisis support (LA and Orange Counties).

• 211 LA County: Dial 2-1-1 for referrals to health, housing, and social services.

  
  

Riverside and San Bernardino Counties (Inland Empire)

• Inland SoCal Crisis and Suicide Helpline: 951-686-HELP (4357), 24/7, free and confidential, bilingual, serving Riverside and San Bernardino Counties.

• Riverside County CARES Line: Call for screening and referrals to mental health and substance use services in English and Spanish. Riverside County also runs 24/7 Mental Health Urgent Care with no appointment needed, regardless of insurance or ability to pay.

• San Bernardino County Behavioral Health Access Unit: 1-888-743-1478, 24/7 crisis referrals. Crisis Walk-In Centers provide urgent mental health care to county residents.

• 211 / Inland SoCal United Way: Dial 2-1-1 for local resource referrals across the Inland Empire.

  
  

Finding a therapist

Getting into therapy can feel like the hardest step, so I have pulled together a list of therapists and mental health resources for LA County and the Riverside and San Bernardino area right here on the Educated Chola blog. It includes options for how to actually get started, whether you have insurance, Medi-Cal, or are paying out of pocket. Head to the page to find a provider near you.

This September, checking in on each other is an act of amistad. Sanar en comunidad. We take care of our own by making space for the hard conversations, and sometimes just by sitting beside someone in the quiet. You are not alone.

Sources

American Foundation for Suicide Prevention (AFSP), Suicide Statistics, afsp.org/suicide-statistics (2024 data).

U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), Suicide Data and Statistics; MMWR, Differences in Suicide Rates by Race and Ethnicity, 2018-2023.

HHS Office of Minority Health, Mental and Behavioral Health - Hispanics/Latinos.

Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA), 2024 National Survey on Drug Use and Health.

NAMI, Hispanic/Latinx Immigrants and First-Generation Americans; scoping review on acculturation and suicide risk in minoritized youth (NCBI, PMC10366293).

LA County Department of Mental Health; Riverside University Health System - Behavioral Health; San Bernardino County Department of Behavioral Health; Inland SoCal United Way.