A Growing Trend Toward Suicide Among Young Children

Mental health – or an increasing lack thereof – has become a familiar topic of conversation in the last year. Sudden quarantine, social isolation, fear of sickness or family loss have added to the genuine everyday stress many of us experience. Widespread depression and anxiety have been compounded by economic and housing insecurity and social inequities.

These strange times have taken an emotional toll on adults, and even more so among children and adolescents.  Recent data from the Centers for Disease Control show a dramatic increase in suicide ideation and completed suicide among children and young adults 10 to 24 years old since the pandemic started. Shockingly, the incidence of suicide among children – as young as 5 to 11 years old — is on the rise. (more…)