A new CDC has found that “ER visits for suicide attempts rose 51% among teen girls during [the] pandemic”:
NEW: ER visits for suicide attempts rose 51% among teen girls during pandemic, CDC study finds
— Ana Cabrera (@AnaCabrera) June 11, 2021
Among all adolescents, suicide attempts increased 31%:
Suicide attempts among adolescents increased 31% amid the COVID-19 pandemic and over 50% of that was among females, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. https://t.co/qrUypXxhPS
— Q13 FOX Seattle (@Q13FOX) June 12, 2021
It’s more than alarming:
This is alarming. https://t.co/0ulRO6Nmmv
— Maria Ines Zamudio (@mizamudio) June 11, 2021
We’ll be dealing with everything we did to “slow the spread” of the pandemic for a long time:
💔 I feel like we'll be figuring out the damage of the pandemic for years to come. https://t.co/Z9DNaIqsRW
— Erica (@bigratsgoboom) June 11, 2021
But ER doc Jeremy Faust did warn not to jump to any firm conclusions just yet. THREAD ==>
Suicides did NOT increase among adolescents (CW).
New CDC paper doesn’t even TRY to say that.https://t.co/6ldxF5Hog0
There were fewer gestures/attempts during initial shutdown.
There were ⬆️ *combined self harm gestures and attempts among girls starting in Feb, 2021.
Why? 🧵— Jeremy Faust MD MS (ER physician) (@jeremyfaust) June 11, 2021
First, no one knows.
Second, it might be artifact. Increased time at home=increased parental surveillance. Data prior to 2018 not in paper) might have been a period of massive UNDER-detection.
Anyone doubt we had under-diagnosis of adolescent mental health before 2020?!
2/
— Jeremy Faust MD MS (ER physician) (@jeremyfaust) June 11, 2021
Third, could be Anniversary Effect.
Thousands of adolescents lost parents and grandparents about a year ago, right at time of year this ⬆️ in harm behaviors began.
Four, it could be an effect of being isolated and away from activity that make kids mentally healthier. But:
3/
— Jeremy Faust MD MS (ER physician) (@jeremyfaust) June 11, 2021
…if so, why is effect isolated to girls? Makes no sense.
Five, as above this increase could be an increase in gestures “cry for help” as opposed to genuine attempt to complete suicide.
The data make no distinction.
If so, this is as likely IMPROVED detection as real ⬆️
4/
— Jeremy Faust MD MS (ER physician) (@jeremyfaust) June 11, 2021
Six: for the millionth time, suicidal thought, self harm/gesture/serious attempt/completion exist on a wide spectrum.
All are bad. But the difference is that of a papercut on one extreme to massive hemorrhage on other (literally, in some cases). Lumping makes little sense.
5/
— Jeremy Faust MD MS (ER physician) (@jeremyfaust) June 11, 2021
$1 million question: if this is a real effect, what can we do about it?
1. Control pandemic. It’s no wonder people feel down. 600,000 people, parents grandparents, sons, daughters, partners, etc, died here. 1 in 5 Americans had someone in their closest 100 contacts die. 6/
— Jeremy Faust MD MS (ER physician) (@jeremyfaust) June 11, 2021
2. Get back to real life. How? Vaccinations (masks until then), and rigorous testing for those not eligible for vaccines. That can safely keep the schools and other important daily activities open up and stay open safely.
7/— Jeremy Faust MD MS (ER physician) (@jeremyfaust) June 11, 2021
3. Increase funding for mental health. If you think Covid-19 only created mental heath problems for people of any age you’re just wrong. It unveiled and worsened many existing ones. Just at it unveiled many issues and trouble spots in our system.
8/
— Jeremy Faust MD MS (ER physician) (@jeremyfaust) June 11, 2021
Lastly, do not fall for easy cognitive traps.
These data are at best unexplained and at worst misleading and indicative of a pre-existing problem (which the authors EXPLICITLY say).
🏥If you or some needs to talk call the prevention hotline.
800-273-8255.
Be safe, everyone./
— Jeremy Faust MD MS (ER physician) (@jeremyfaust) June 11, 2021
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