Emergency room visits for suicide attempts among minors increased during the COVID pandemic, researchers found. In a paper published last month, researchers analyzed 42 studies from 18 countries and 11.1 million emergency department visits by children and adolescents. The crazy thing is that this surge happened even though there was a 32% reduction in pediatric emergency room visits.
So even though many people were so scared of COVID and stayed away from the emergency room as much as possible, these numbers were rising. In 2021 a study confirmed that the number of mental health emergency department visits for those aged 12-17 was up 31% over 2019.
If you notice that your child is displaying symptoms, you should know these numbers. It’s better to act before a problem happens than wait until it does. Many people think that suicide is something other kids do. with a huge increase like this, more and more kids are having difficulties.
One of the problems is most likely the drugs that so many doctors put these kids on. These drugs have the side effects of suicidal thoughts and tendencies written right on the documentation of the drugs.
But, I get it…
I can understand how people would still put their chidren on those dangerous drugs. They are looking for help and dont see anything else. If they go to their doctor and that is the recommendation, they probably don;t see any other option.
But there are options. One very powerful one is the specialized care we provide. If your child has the problems that we treat, we have an amazing track record of helping children diagnosed with depression and anxiety. Even though these seem like two completely different problems, they are related in that the sympathetic brain center is working improperly.
The very specialized work we provide allows that brain center to come back to a more normal pattern. When this happens, the brain can reduce the pressure on the emotional brain centers and calmness can be present in the brain.
How do you know if your child qualifies for this type of care? We have a computerized scan that we use to determine if there is a good likelihood of success. It only takes about 10 minutes but the information we get from that scan is amazing.
If your child is dealing with suicidal thoughts or even if you are concerned, let’s get a scan done and see what help can be given to your child.
