|
|
|
The views expressed on this page are
solely
those of the author and do not
necessarily represent the views of County
News Online
|
|
123RF.com
NPR Ed
The Pandemic Has Researchers Worried About Teen Suicide
Anya Kamanetz
September 10, 2020
Teen and youth anxiety and depression are getting worse since COVID
lockdowns began in March, early studies suggest, and many experts say
they fear a corresponding increase in youth suicide.
At the end of June, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
surveyed Americans on their mental health. They found symptoms of
anxiety and depression were up sharply across the board between March
and June, compared with the same time the previous year. And young
people seemed to be the hardest-hit of any group.
Almost 11 percent of all respondents to that survey said they had
"seriously considered" suicide in the past 30 days. For those ages 18
to 24, the number was 1 in 4 — more than twice as high.
Data collection for several studies on teen mental health during the
pandemic is currently underway. And experts worry those studies will
show a spike in suicide, because young people are increasingly cut off
from peers and caring adults, because their futures are uncertain and
because they are spending more time at home, where they are most likely
to have access to lethal weapons.
"Teenagers are in a developmental space where it is critically
important that they have regular contact with their peers and are able
to develop close and ongoing relationships with adults outside the
home, such as their teachers, their coaches, their advisers," says Lisa
Damour, an adolescent psychologist who is a columnist and host of the
podcast Ask Lisa: The Psychology of Parenting. "And I worry very much
about what it means for that to be disrupted by the pandemic."
The stressors of COVID come as youth suicide was already at a record
high before the pandemic, with increases every year since 2007. Suicide
is the second leading cause of death among people ages 10-24, after
accidents, as it has been for many years, according to the most recent
data available from the CDC.
Not having guns in the home, or keeping them safely locked away, is
another overlooked factor in suicide risk. A new analysis of the latest
CDC data, just released by the advocacy group Everytown for Gun Safety,
found that the rate of specifically firearm suicides increased 51% for
15-24 year olds in the decade ending in 2018. Among 10- to
14-year-olds, who have a lower rate of suicide to begin with, suicide
by gun increased a staggering 214% in that time frame.
Gun suicide is astonishingly lethal: Of all suicide attempts not
involving guns, 94% fail, and most of those people do not try again,
Everytown reports. Of all suicide attempts that do involve guns, 90%
succeed. That's one reason that gun ownership correlates with the youth
suicide rate, state by state. A study last year found that for each 10
percent increase in household gun ownership in a state, the suicide
rate for 10- to 19-year-olds increases by more than 25 percent.
And, the presence of guns is another community risk factor that has
increased during the pandemic: From March to July 2020, Everytown
reports, gun sales doubled compared with the year before.
Carrson Everett, 17, says when he himself attempted suicide, the fact
that his parents kept their guns safely locked away and out of reach
most likely helped save his life. He says that during the pandemic,
"Teenagers are already having the effect of isolation, staying at home
and everything. And now there's all these new firearms in their homes
and, you know, we can't tell who's safely storing their guns and who
isn't. And it's very dangerous."
Everett has started his senior year of high school in Kingsport, Tenn.,
on a hybrid schedule. On the days that he's home, he says he wonders
what he's missing out on at school. "Everyone feels isolated, and it's
been very tough for everybody."
He says these past few months have been especially hard for him because
he has depression and anxiety. Plus, he says he's been bullied for
years for being gay, including over video chat during distance learning.
Everett is a volunteer for Students Demand Action, an anti-gun violence
group that is part of Everytown. He said he's learned that gun violence
isn't just a matter of crime or mass shootings, but also suicide. "I
wrote an op-ed about a kid that was my age over in Cookeville,
Tennessee, that had taken his own life with a firearm because he had
been outed [as gay] at school. So, you know, it's very relatable for
me."
Damour, the teen psychologist, explains that not having guns in the
home, or keeping them safely locked away, is important especially for
adolescents because "teens are impulsive."
What parents can do
She says parents need to know that suicide is preventable. A red flag
is when sadness is more than a passing mood. Caregivers need to check
in regularly — which can be unexpectedly complicated when the whole
family is spending so much time at home.
A common pattern, she notes, is parents trying to work during the day,
and teenagers staying up late at night to have time to themselves. This
isn't inherently a problem, Damour says, but "there's a difference
between allowing privacy and allowing a teenager to hole up in their
room for days at a time."
If a teen talks about harming themselves or wanting to disappear, a
parent should ask directly, "Is that something you think you might
really do or you think about doing? Or are you just letting me know
that you're very upset right now?" And, she adds, hear them out without
dismissing what they're saying.
She also says parents should look out for anger: "In teenagers,
uniquely, depression can take the form of irritability. That depression
in teenagers sometimes looks like a prickly porcupine. Everybody rubs
them the wrong way. And that is easy to miss because sometimes we'll
just dismiss that as being a snarky teenager."
If school is all-virtual, she says, parents should look for safe
sports, work or volunteer opportunities that allow teens to have social
time and contact with other caring adults.
Finally, Damour says she sees one bright spot: During the pandemic, she
and other clinicians are finding that telemedicine — therapy over video
chat — is working surprisingly well with adolescents.
"The teenagers that I see are often talking to me from their bedrooms,
sometimes flopped over in their beds," she says. "There's something
unguarded about it that's very different than having them sit in my
office."
And, virtual therapy can lower barriers to access for families who
might have had to travel to get accessible mental health care.
|
|
|
|
