Suicide rates have increased among African-American children under the age of 12.

A study by medical experts from the Research Institute at Nationwide Children’s hospital shocked even the researchers, as this is the first time such a trend has been identified. "We were very surprised. We were not expecting to find higher rates of suicide in Black children and an increase in the trend over time," researcher Dr. Jeffrey Bridge told NPR's Here and Now in May. Dr. Bridge says his team waited a year to publish their study, so they could be more data from the CDC.

On Second Thought host Celeste Headlee explores some of the cultural, spiritual and socioeconomic reasons and talks about grief, healing and suicide prevention with Makungu Akinyela, a family therapist and associate professor of African American Studies at Georgia State University; Sherry Molock, professor of clinical psychology at George Washington University and a pastor; and Schrence Wright who lost her young son Marquis to suicide in 2012.

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