Suicidal Children

"We're seeing a significant increase in suicidal behaviour since 2014. Everyone is wondering why the rates of ideation [suicidal thoughts] and behaviour are increasing."
"It [isolation] contributes to disconnection. They're sleeping more poorly [teens].  Any peer issues at school are following them home. If you're being bullied at school, you're not getting a break."
"People want to make sure that when a teen is in distress, they get the help they need."
"Conversations with teens involve mostly listening. Avoid giving advice. A good night's sleep means good mental health."
"If you suspect your teen is thinking about suicide, ask him or her. Asking questions won't prompt a suicide."
Dr. Allison Kennedy, psychologist, Children's Hospital of Eastern Ontario

"A single suicide attempt is the strongest predictor of future completed suicide."
"Community and general emergency departments are not resourced to give these children the comprehensive assessments and follow-up they need for optimal care."
Dr. Brett Burstein, pediatric emergency room physician, Montreal Children's Hospital

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"There is an overwhelming amount of data from many different sources, and it all points in the same direction: more mental health issues among American young people."
"This is always a tough question to answer, as we can’t prove for sure what the causes are. But there was one change that impacted the lives of young people more than older people, and that was the growth of smartphones and digital media like social media, texting and gaming."
"[While older adults also use these technologies], their adoption among younger people was faster and more complete, and the impact on their social lives much larger."
"[The way young people communicate and spend their leisure time] has fundamentally changed. They spend less time with their friends in person and less time sleeping, and more time on digital media."
Jean Twenge, professor of psychology, San Diego State University

"There’s a lot we don’t know, and we can’t say conclusively what’s driving these [mental health] trends. But in the real world when dealing with the health of children, you need to make your best guess and move ahead before things are unequivocally proven."
"It makes sense to pay attention to adolescent behaviors we know are changing and to target those behaviors for intensive scrutiny, and in the meantime to have [young people] engage in behaviors that don’t lead to poor well-being. There’s this overload of information and stimulation and a much bigger sphere of influence that they’re being exposed to."
"Given what we know about adolescent development and vulnerability and the intensive need for intimate and healthy social connection during these years, you can see how social media may not be developmentally appropriate."
Mary Helen Immordino-Yang, professor of psychology and education, University of Southern California

"I think every generation of adults tries to pin a negative trend they see in young people on whatever the current technological fad is."
"[The data may show depression rising among young people, but he can't see] a clear cost [associated with technology or social media use]."
"Certainly there are some stressors that are inherent in social media use, but there are other stressors as well; [increased competition to get into college and] parents hovering -- It’s probably not one thing, but the cumulative impact of a lot of things."
Laurence Steinberg, distinguished professor of psychology, Temple University

A new study by researchers in Canada found annual visits to American emergency rooms for suicidal thoughts and suicide attempts among children between the ages of five to 18 almost doubled between the years 2007 and 2015, from 580,000 to a staggering 1.12 million. Dr. Burstein, a pediatric emergency room physician at Montreal Children's Hospital, the co-author of the study and his colleagues sampled 300 U.S. emergency rooms to analyze public health data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Among the findings' most disturbing conclusions was that 43 percent of children taken to an emergency room were aged between five and 12. There is no available comparable national Canadian data, but Dr. Burstein noted that at Montreal Children's Hospital a 55 percent increase in suicidal behaviour was noted between 2015 and 2018. In the U.S. study an eight-year period was involved whereas in the Canadian one a three-year period produced the results, indicating that the rise in suicide attempts is faster in Canada than in the U.S.

Health professionals, particularly those considered experts in the field of teen studies are uncertain how and what to attribute these figures to. Theories appear for the most part to centre around social isolation due to the rise and impact of technology-driven products where young people have turned increasingly to social media attraction which draws them away from personal real-world interaction, leading them toward an isolated lifestyle with few real social emotional supports.

This situation leaves teens spending more time by themselves. The more time spent on social media, the more time teens spend in their rooms, and consequently less time interacting with others, even with family members and that, even while they're at home. The disconnect between personal and one-on-one relationships in real time with real people has its isolating effect, leaving children adrift and lacking both peer and parental support.

This has led to the appalling realization that the second most common cause of death among adolescents in Canada is suicide, after accidents. Over 10 teen suicides for every 1,000,000 teens distinguishes Canada as one of five countries with the highest teenage suicide rates in 2015, according to a report by the O'Brien Institute for Public Health at University of Calgary. Twenty-two percent of teens between the ages of 13 and 18 had considered suicide in a 12-month period, according to a 2016 survey conducted by Kids Help Phone.

Of the children in the American study, fewer than 13 percent arrived in the emergency room for isolated suicidal thoughts; most -- 87 percent -- were present in the wake of an actual suicidal gesture or attempt; they had gone beyond thinking to action. To Dr. Burstein this suggests that an actual increasing burden of mental health problems among children is involved. Dr. Burstein points out the need for more community-based mental health resources, along with emergency department preparedness, as well as risk reduction interventions once the patient leaves the emergency department.

Signs of suicidal behavior in teens

As with many medical conditions, there typically is no single sign a family can point back to that explicitly indicated a teen was suicidal. There are several signs that may indicate suicide risk, including the following behaviors:
● Depressed mood/mood disorders
● Difficulty regulating emotions
● Difficulty with problem solving
● Hopelessness
● Impulsivity
● Hostility and aggression
● Quitting or struggling to enjoy favorite activities
● Social or interpersonal problems, interpersonal skill deficits
● High situational stress
● Insomnia