118 HRES 1436 IH: Recognizing suicide as a serious public health problem and expressing support for the designation of September as “National Suicide Prevention Month” as well as September 10, 2024, as “World Suicide Prevention Day”. U.S. House of Representatives 2024-09-10 text/xml EN Pursuant to Title 17 Section 105 of the United States Code, this file is not subject to copyright protection and is in the public domain.

118th CONGRESS2d Session

H. RES. 1436

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

September 10, 2024

Mr. Thanedar (for himself, Mr. Lawler, Mr. Swalwell, Mr. Espaillat, Mr. Mullin, Ms. Crockett, Mr. Johnson of Georgia, Mr. Soto, Mr. Green of Texas, Mr. Grijalva, Ms. Pettersen, Mr. Thompson of Mississippi, Mr. Vargas, Ms. Williams of Georgia, Mr. Ruiz, Ms. Brownley, Mrs. Cherfilus-McCormick, Ms. Stansbury, Mr. Goldman of New York, Mr. Carson, Mr. Schneider, Mr. Cleaver, Mr. Tonko, Ms. Craig, Ms. Sánchez, Mr. Mrvan, Mr. Gottheimer, Ms. Matsui, Ms. Tokuda, Mr. Huffman, Mr. Pappas, Ms. Kelly of Illinois, Mr. DeSaulnier, Mr. Torres of New York, Mrs. Watson Coleman, Ms. McCollum, Mr. Lynch, Mr. Evans, Mr. Kim of New Jersey, Mr. Fitzpatrick, Ms. Wild, Mr. Amo, Mrs. Napolitano, Mr. Williams of New York, Ms. Salinas, Mr. Davis of North Carolina, Ms. Schakowsky, and Mr. Raskin) submitted the following resolution; which was referred to the Committee on Energy and Commerce

RESOLUTION

Recognizing suicide as a serious public health problem and expressing support for the designation of September as National Suicide Prevention Month as well as September 10, 2024, as World Suicide Prevention Day.

Whereas, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (in this resolution referred to as CDC), suicide was among the top 9 leading causes of death for people ages 10 to 64 in 2022; Whereas, according to the CDC, suicide was the second-leading cause of death for people ages 10 to 14 and 25 to 34 in 2022; Whereas, according to the CDC, 1 individual in the United States dies by suicide every 11 minutes, resulting in 49,476 deaths in 2022; Whereas the number of people who think about or attempt suicide is even higher; Whereas, according to the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (in this resolution referred to as SAMHSA) National Survey on Drug Use and Health data from 2022, an estimated 13,200,000 adults seriously thought about suicide, 3,800,000 planned a suicide attempt, and 1,600,000 attempted suicide in 2022; Whereas, according to SAMHSA, trends in suicide attempts and deaths by suicide have been increasing among adolescents; Whereas, according to SAMHSA, 3,400,000 adolescents aged 12 to 17 in the United States had serious thoughts of suicide, 1,700,000 made a suicide plan, and 953,000 attempted suicide in 2022; Whereas, according to the Department of Veterans Affairs (in this resolution referred to as VA) National Veteran Suicide Prevention Annual Report data released in 2023, the number of suicides among veterans has continued to rise in the 20 years from 2001 to 2021; Whereas, according to the VA, suicide was the second-leading cause of death among veterans aged 45 or under and the 13th-leading cause of death for veterans overall; Whereas, according to the VA, the average number of veteran suicides per day rose from 16.4 in 2001 to 17.5 in 2021; Whereas, according to the National Institutes of Health (in this resolution referred to as NIH), suicide is a leading cause of death in the perinatal period during pregnancy and until the first year postpartum; Whereas, according to the NIH, suicide is a leading cause of maternal mortality and accounts for about 20 percent of postpartum deaths; Whereas, according to the NIH, between 7,000 to 30,000 children experience their parent’s suicide each year in the United States; Whereas the stigma associated with mental health conditions and suicidal ideation hinders suicide prevention by discouraging individuals at risk for suicide from seeking lifesaving help; and Whereas September is an appropriate month to designate as National Suicide Prevention Month because September 10 is World Suicide Prevention Day, a day recognized internationally and supported by the World Health Organization: Now, therefore, be it;

That the House of Representatives— (1)recognizes suicide as a preventable national public health problem; (2)supports the designation of National Suicide Prevention Month; (3)supports the designation of World Suicide Prevention Day; (4)declares suicide prevention as a priority; (5)acknowledges that no single suicide prevention program or effort will be appropriate for all populations or communities; (6)recognizes that there is no single cause for suicide and that suicide is most often an impulsive act that occurs during a moment of overwhelming hopelessness and despair; (7)recognizes that mental health is equally as important as physical health; and (8)develops and implements strategies to increase access to quality mental health, substance abuse, and suicide prevention services.