The deaths of Anthony Bourdain and Kate Spade highlighted the rising tide of suicides in the United States. There are alarming new statistics that show that young children are increasingly at risk of suicidal thoughts, attempts and deaths. According to a recent study from Vanderbilt University published in Pediatrics, there was a more than doubling from 2008 to 2015 of school-age children and adolescents hospitalized for suicidal thoughts or attempts. Just more than half of those were youths between the ages of 15-17, followed by those between the ages of 12-14 (37 percent) and those ranging in ages from 5-11. More than two-thirds of children hospitalized for thinking about or trying to kill themselves were girls. But boys are more likely to die by suicide. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in 2015, suicide was the second leading cause of death, behind unintentional injuries.
The rate of hospitalization is higher during the school year, suggesting that academic and social pressures are influencing their behavior. Social media and cyberbullying may also be a factor. What causes these very young children attempting to take their lives?
- Breakup of relationships
- Teen isolationism,
- Break up of families through separation and divorce.
- A perception of being a burden
- A disconnection from others
- Pressures from school (via testing, being cut from a team or play
- Sleep deprivation
- Increased media use