Straight Arrow News
According to a study published in the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP), the number of suicidal children visiting emergency rooms has “spiked in recent years.” The study, published Monday, analyzed data on 205 Illinois hospitals from January 2016 to June 2021.
“[Emergency room] visits for suicidal ideation rose 59% when looking at a 22-month period in 2019-’21 compared to the same amount of time in 2016-’17, with sharp spikes in the fall of 2019 and fall of 2020,” AAP said in a news article. “From the fall of 2019 to the fall of 2020, monthly inpatient hospitalization among youths reporting suicidal ideation rose 57%. Authors said this may have been due to patients delaying care early in the COVID-19 pandemic.”
Study co-author Dr. Audrey Brewer said the true numbers are probably much higher than what the study found, because not all children who may be suicidal go to the emergency room. While the study was based in Illinois, experts believe the problem is not unique to any one state
