Self-poisoning suicide attempts spike among young people in past 5 years, study finds

A new study has found that suicide attempts by ingesting toxic substances or overdosing on medications soared by 26% over the past five years among people ages 6 to 19 (Source: “A Growing Number of Young People Are Attempting Suicide by Self-Poisoning,” Time, June 1).
 
The study published in the journal Clinical Toxicology found that the number of self-poisoning attempts increased in each of the five consecutive years, from 75,000 in 2015 to 93,500 in 2020. During that same time period, there were a total of 514,350 calls to poison control centers involving children ages 6-19 who, according to the control centers’ guidelines for suspected suicide attempts, had “an exposure resulting from the inappropriate use of a substance for self-harm or self-destructive” reasons.
 
“We began to notice an increase in younger aged children attempting suicide by acute overdoses in our clinical practice at [the University of Virginia Health System],” said Dr. Christopher Holstege, chief of the division of medical toxicology at the University of Virginia School of Medicine and a co-author of the paper, in a statement. “We were disturbed at our institutional numbers and decided to perform research on the national numbers which confirmed that this increase was not just a local issue, but a national issue.”
 
Immediate help and resources are available for anyone who is in crisis. You can call the Suicide Prevention Lifeline 24/7 at 1-800-273-TALK (1-800-273-8255), or text the Crisis Text Line at 741741.