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A new sobering study on Monday suggests that many pre-teens who go to the emergency department may be in urgent need of help to cope with their suicidal thoughts. It turns out that a significant number of children aged 10 to 12 who went to the hospital had a positive risk screening for suicide.
Researchers from the National Institutes of Mental Health (NIMH) and elsewhere have reviewed a sample of medical records from 79 pre-teens who recently visited the emergency departments of three major children's hospitals in the United States. About half of the patients had come to the ER with mental health issues, such as depression or an anxiety attack, while the other half had physical problems. In addition to standard medical intake, all patients had responded to two questionnaires used to assess their risk of suicide.
"In the past few weeks, have you felt that you or your family would be better off if you were dead?", Lut a yes or no question.
Overall, about 30% of patients meet the suicide risk criteria, based on their responses to one or the other of the investigations. This included 54% of children with known mental health problems, but also 7% of children who presented only physical problems in the beginning. What is also worrying is that 17% of respondents also reported suicidal behavior, such as self-harm,
The results were published Monday in Hospital Pediatrics.
"In general, suicidal thoughts and behaviors are observed in older adolescents. It was disturbing that so many preadolescents were HIV-positive for suicide risk and we were alarmed that many of them had already acted on their suicidal ideation, "said lead author Lisa Horowitz. , clinical scientist at the Division of Intramural Research Programs, said in a statement.
Suicides in young children are thankfully rare, with 136 children aged 5 to 12 years being suicidal in 2017, according to CDC data. But this is a deeply under-studied subject, especially in relation to suicide among other age groups. And there seems to be a clear and growing disparity between black and white kids. For example, a 2018 study found that the suicide rate among black children has increased steadily since 2001, while it has decreased among white children. As a result, black children would die of suicide twice as much as white children in 2015.
The new study examined a small sample of pre-residents in only three hospitals. Therefore, we should not generalize their conclusions. It is too early to assume, for example, that 30% of children who go to emergency departments in the United States have suicidal thoughts. According to the authors, it is clear that many young patients are suffering in silence and more needs to be done to identify and help them.
"This study shows that children as young as 10 years of age who come to the emergency may be thinking about suicide and that screening for all preadolescents – regardless of their symptoms – can save lives," said Horowitz. "Otherwise, they could go through our medical systems undetected."
If you or someone you know is in crisis, call the National Life Line for Suicide Prevention at 800-273-8255 or send a text message to the crisis hotline at 741-741.
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