CNN
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The rate of suspected suicide and attempted suicide by poisoning among young people increased sharply during the Covid-19 pandemic, a new study says. Among children ages 10 to 12, the rate increased more than 70% from 2019 to 2021.
The analysis, published Thursday in the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report, looked at what the National Poison Data System classified as “suspected suicides” from autointoxication for 2021 among people from 10 to 19 years old; the records included both suicide attempts and suicide deaths.
The data showed that suicide attempts and suicides by poisoning increased by 30% in 2021 compared to 2019, before the pandemic began.
The youngest children, ages 10 to 12, had the largest increase at 73%. For 13-15 year olds, there was a 48.8% increase in suspected suicide and poisoning attempts from 2019 to 2021. Girls appeared to be the most affected, with a 36.8% increase in suspected suicide and poisoning attempts.
“I think the group that really surprised us was the 10-12 age group, where we saw a 73% increase, and I can tell you from my clinical practice, this is what we’re seeing as well,” said the Study co-author Dr. Chris Holstege, professor of emergency medicine and chief of pediatrics at the University of Virginia School of Medicine. “We are seeing very young ages, ages that I didn’t used to see trying to commit suicide by poisoning.
“It was pretty amazing from our perspective,” he said.
About twenty years ago, when he started working at the University of Virginia, he said, they rarely treated a 9- to 12-year-old for suicide by poisoning. Now, it’s every week.
“This is an aberration that is quite new to our practice,” Holstege said.
The records showed that many of the children were using medications that would be commonly found around the house, including acetaminophen, ibuprofen and diphenhydramine, which are sold under brand names such as Benadryl.
There was a 71% increase from 2019 to 2021 in suicide attempts with acetaminophen alone, Holstege said.
The choice of over-the-counter medications is concerning because children often have easy access to these products, and they often come in large quantities.
Holstege encourages caregivers to keep all medications in locked boxes, even seemingly innocuous over-the-counter ones.
If a child overdoses on something like acetaminophen or diphenhydramine, Holstege encourages parents to take their children to the hospital without delay, because the drug’s toxicity worsens over time. It’s also a good idea to call a poison control center, a confidential resource that is available 24 hours a day.
“We want to make sure that children are taken care of when it comes to their mental health, but also when it comes to poisoning if there is a suspicion that they overdosed,” he said.
There were limitations in the data used in the new study. It captured only the number of families or institutions that came close to the poison control line; it cannot account for those who attempted suicide by means other than poison. It also can’t capture exactly how many children or families sought help elsewhere than poison control, so the rise in suicide suspicions could be higher.
The American Academy of Pediatrics has noted that the Covid-19 pandemic exacerbated even existing mental health struggles. In 2021, the group called child and adolescent mental health a “national emergency.” Emergency room doctors across the country have also said they have seen record numbers of children with mental health crises, including suicide attempts.
In 2020, suicide was the second leading cause of death among children ages 10 to 14 and the third leading cause among those ages 15 to 24, according to the CDC.
Although the height of the pandemic is over, children remain emotionally vulnerable, experts warn. Previous suicide attempts have been found to be the “strongest predictor of subsequent death by suicide,” according to the study.
“There is an urgent need to strengthen programs focused on identifying and supporting people at risk of suicide, especially young people,” the study said.
Research has shown that there is a significant shortage of trained professionals and treatment facilities that can address the number of children who need better mental health care. In August, the Biden administration Announced a plan to make it easier for millions of children to access physical and mental health services at school.
At home, experts said, families need to constantly check on children to see how they are doing emotionally. Caregivers should also be sure to restrict access to “killing means,” such as keeping medications, including over-the-counter items, out of children’s reach and keeping weapons locked up.
Dr Aron Janssenvice president of clinical affairs in the Pritzker Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Health at Lurie Children’s in Chicago, said he’s not surprised to see the rise in suspected suicides, “but it doesn’t make it any less sad.”
Janssen, who did not work on the new report, called the rise “alarming.”
Rates of suicide attempts among children had been on the rise even before to the pandemic, he said, “but this shows that Covid really supercharged this as a phenomenon.
“We see many children who have lost access to social supports becoming more isolated and really struggling to get by on a day-to-day basis.”
Janssen said he and his colleagues believe these suspected suicides coincide with higher rates of depression and anxiety and a sense of real fear about the future.
One of the biggest concerns is that “prior suicide attempts are the biggest predictor of subsequent suicide,” he said. “We really want to follow these kids over time to better understand how to support them, to make sure we’re doing everything in our power to help steer them away from future attempts.”
Janssen said it’s important to note that the vast majority of children survived even the worst of the pandemic and did quite well. There are treatments that work, and children who can be connected with the right care, including talk therapy and, in some cases, medication, can and do get better.
“We see that. We see improvement. We see the effectiveness of our care,” Janssen said. “We just have to figure out how we can connect children to care.”
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