This polling analysis on trends and perceptions around mental health and suicide finds early 7 in 10 adults feel they are knowledgeable about suicide prevention.
Other key findings:
1. Although 988 is not active until mid-July, nearly a third of adults report seeing, reading, or hearing about being able to dial the number to reach a trained counselor with the National Suicide Prevention Line. Generation Z, Millennials, and parents are the most likely to see, read, or hear about being able to dial 9-8-8.
2. Nearly seven in ten (68%) adults feel they are knowledgeable about suicide prevention. Younger adults, specifically GenZers (85%), parents (79%), Black adults (76%), and Hispanic adults (76%) are all significantly more likely than the mean to indicate they are knowledgeable about suicide prevention. Conversely, Baby Boomers (55%), non-parents (62%), suburban (65%), and rural adults (63%) are all less knowledgeable than the average.
3. A tenth of adults (9%) known an LGBTQ person who has died by suicide. Parents are more than 2x as likely to know an LGBTQ+ person who has died by suicide compared to non-parents. Additionally, those who are most likely to know an LGBTQ+ person who had died by suicide are parents, younger adults, urban adults, Hispanic adults, and Democrats.
4. More than seven in ten adults trust social workers, psychologists, and emergency medical services to respond to a mental health crisis. The trust placed in police officers to be part of a first response varies dramatically by age and race. GenZers and Black adults are conflicted on whether they would trust police officers while white adults, older adults, and Republicans are deeply trusting of them.
