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The growing number of children hospitalized for suicide attempts and suicidal thoughts is described as a crisis, but the Canadian data are too incomplete to measure the extent, said a Montreal researcher who has studied the issue.
Dr. Brett Burstein, pediatric emergency physician, co-authored a study published this week that found that the number of children hospitalized in the United States for considering or attempting suicide had doubled between 2007 and 2015 – from 580,000 to 2007.
Suicide attempts or ideas also increased as a proportion of all visits to children's emergency rooms, from 2.17% to 3.5%. The results come from public health data maintained by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and badyzed by Burstein and two colleagues at the Montreal Children's Hospital, Holly Agostino and Brian Greenfield.
Burstein says comparable national data are not available in Canada, but the evidence suggests a similar trend. He notes that in his hospital, emergency room visits for suicide attempts and suicidal thoughts have increased by 55% since 2015 and now account for about 2% of visits.
"What we see (in Montreal) is certainly a reflection of the experience we are seeing (in the study), as well as the tendency of this patient population to be younger and younger," said Burstein, an badociate researcher with the Child Health and Human Development Program at the McGill University Health Center.
"It's reasonable to call it a child mental health crisis," he said.
According to Burstein, one of the most disturbing results of American data is that 43% of children brought to the emergency department were between 5 and 12 years old.
This number is particularly disturbing, he said, because a first suicide attempt is "the most powerful predictor of a complete suicide risk for life".
He says that the study, published in the Journal of the American Medical Association, shows that there is clearly a need for more training of emergency staff so that children can get the job done. help they need quickly. "It's our point of entry and our opportunity to identify people at risk," he said.
He also called on Canadian public health officials to develop national health data comparable to that of the United States.
"We think US trends are a problem only south of the border," he said. "It's not that it's an American problem only. We do not even know if it is a Canadian problem very often. "
Fardous Hosseiny, National Director of Research and Public Policy for the Canadian Mental Health Association, agrees that Canada needs better data.
He says this would allow officials to more effectively direct funds to address what he describes as an "epidemic" of suicidal thoughts among young Canadians. He added that the rise in suicidal behavior can be explained by a combination of factors, including the lack of mental health services, the growing sense of young people to succeed, as well as social isolation. and bullying caused by the use of social media.
"It's really a transition period for children, both neurobiologically and socially," he said during a phone interview. "They have to navigate different social contexts and peer groups while discovering who they are and taking on greater responsibilities to live more independently."
Hosseiny says that to effectively fight this problem, much more investment will be needed in mental health services, so that people do not have to wait for months before being treated. In the end, he thinks that mental health should be equated with physical health, including being taught at school just like the gym clbad.
"Are we teaching social and emotional learning in schools, where children can navigate their feelings and understand what a difficult day is when they struggle?" He asked. "We do not do it."
He added that while suicidal behavior is multiple and complex, there are also "protective factors" that families can put in place to help troubled youth.
These include family ties, self-esteem, a positive school environment and peer support, as well as better early intervention and treatment. "We are not waiting for stage 4 to treat cancer, so why are we doing it with mental illness?" Asked Hosseiny.
Morgan Lowrie, The Canadian Press
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