LOS ANGELES — Fatal overdoses in the U.S. fell for the first time in five years in 2023, according to preliminary estimates recently released by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, but UCLA researcher Joseph Friedman warns that the new findings should not be interpreted to mean that the nation’s drug and mental health crises are abating.
Friedman has analyzed “deaths of despair” that result from overdose, suicide and liver disease due to alcoholism and found that while death rates for white Americans have dipped, rates have risen in recent years among people of color in the U.S., especially among Native and Black Americans.
Illegal opioids such as fentanyl have ravaged Black and low-income communities in Los Angeles. While it’s difficult to pinpoint the exact reasons behind substance abuse or suicide, Friedman as well as other experts in addiction medicine and mental health say racial inequality, economic distress and historical trauma have aggravated those problems in marginalized communities. If you or someone you know needs immediate help for a mental health, substance-use or suicidal crisis, call or text 988, or chat online by visiting the suicide and crisis line’s website .
For mental health resources and referrals, call the Los Angeles County Department of Mental Health’s Help Line 24/7 at ( 800) 854-7771 . Here are other organizations that offer information, counseling and support services: Nakeya Fields, a licensed clinical social worker in P.
