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A new finding from a Centers for Disease Control report has epidemiologists and mental health experts stumped and concerned. According to the report, teenage suicide rates have increased nearly 56% from 2007 to 2017. The rate of 6.8 deaths per 100,000 people between the ages of 10 and 24 has jumped to about 10.8 deaths. What’s worse, mental health experts have little explanation for what’s driving this increase, making it difficult to know what tack to take in terms of providing early intervention.

In itself, the fact that suicide rates among teens are rising is somewhat to be expected: suicide rates have risen across the board over the past few years, rising 33% from 1999 to 2017, according to data from the American Psychiatric Association (APA). Yet the rise in teenage suicides specifically has far outpaced that of the increase in suicides in general. It is now the second-leading cause of death for teenagers, right behind accidental deaths.

Alarmingly, public health experts have no idea why the suicide rate […]