Poison Center Data Shows Rising Rate Of Teen Suicide, Self Harm

OLYMPIA, WA — In the first six months of 2021, half of the Washington Poison Center's adolescent patients had intentionally abused medication. Most had done so in an attempt at self harm or potentially suicide, according to a concerning new report from the data center.

The Washington Poison Center is a nonprofit organization that responds to roughly 138,000 poison-related calls every year. Over the past two years, the center has launched a number of studies tracking how poison exposure has changed over the COVID-19 pandemic, but their latest — which tracked intentional self-poisoning in kids ages 6-17 from Jan. 1 to June 30, 2021 — may be the most startling.

Here are a few key findings from their report:

• Half of the center's adolescent cases were intentional. Of those cases, 104 were children intentionally abusing drugs, 209 were kids misusing drugs, and 1,399 were children suspected of self-harm or suicide attempts.
• Girls were nearly six times more likely to attempt suicide or self harm through medication than boys. The number of boys who tried to hurt themselves fell slightly, to 204 incidents in the first half of 2021 from 206 in the first half of 2020. Girls, on the other hand, grew from 843 self harm attempts in the first half of 2020 to 1,194 attempts in the first half of 2021. The finding mirrors a similar study from the CDC, which found that suicide rates had grown 31 percent over the first year of the pandemic, particularly in teenage girls.
• Most of the suspected self-harm and suicide cases were in patients 13-17. Of the 1,399 children suspected of self-harm or suicide attempts, just 146 were between the ages of 6 and 12.
• Overall, adolescent self-harm and suspected suicide exposures appear to be increasing. In 2020, there were only two months - January and October - when the Washington Poison Center responded to 200+ self harm cases. In 2021, every month between January and July had 200 or more cases. March and May had 250 incidents per month.

The Washington Poison Center's report notes that their data collection is voluntary, and not mandated by state law. As a result, they only know about cases reported directly to them, and say there are likely more unreported cases they have not logged.

Their reporting does not speculate on the causes behind these startling increases, but the CDC's study suggests there could be multiple reasons suicide and self-harm have been on the rise, including feelings of disconnectedness because of the pandemic, barriers to mental health treatment, rising substance abuse rates, and anxiety about family health and economic problems, among other possibilities. Another study recently found that social media use — which has only grown during the pandemic — had also been tightly linked to suicide risk, U.S. News reported.

If you or a loved one are concerned about suicide, there are resources available. The National Suicide Prevention Lifeline can be reached 24/76 at 1-800-273-TALK (1-800-273-8255). You can also connect to a crisis counselor at any time with the Crisis Text Line, by texting HOME to 741741.

>> Find more resources or learn more about suicide prevention from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.