But the report also found that deaths of despair increased in some minority communities during the same time period.
While the numbers were mostly level with 2017, they show a 51% increase over the past decade, the report found.
Coronavirus could cause a spike in deaths of despairEven more problematic, though, the groups warned, these numbers could change when the coronavirus pandemic is factored in.
Some opioid deaths down, other drug overdoses upThe big difference in overall deaths of despair in 2018 compared to the year before, the researchers said, was the lower numbers of overdose deaths involving prescription opioids, such as oxycodone and hydrocodone, and to a lesser extent heroin, which were down by 2%.
Minority deaths of despair on the riseAlso troubling, whites were the only racial group that saw a decrease in overall deaths from drug overdoses in 2018 -- by 6% or 23.3 per 100,000.