Suicide attempts among adolescent girls surged by more than 50% during pandemic, CDC says
Suicide attempts surged among 12- to 17-year-olds, especially adolescent girls, during the Covid-19 pandemic and got worse the longer social distancing orders and government lockdowns persisted, according to new data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Emergency department visits at hospitals among adolescents were already increasing in early May 2020 when the pandemic was spreading across the U.S., the CDC said in a study released Friday. From late July to late August 2020, the average weekly number of emergency department visits for suspected suicide attempts among 12- to 17-year-old girls increased by 26.2% from the same period a year prior.
The disruption of daily life with pandemic lockdowns and social distancing orders may have contributed to the rise in suicide attempts, the CDC said. In spring 2020, there was a 16.8% drop in emergency department visits among men and women aged 18 to 24 compared with the same time period a year prior.
By June 2020, 25% of surveyed adults in the same age group reported experiencing suicidal thoughts related to the pandemic in the last 30 days, consistent with 2019. But actual emergency room visits for suicide attempts rose throughout the pandemic, the CDC said.
