‘It’s been alarming.’ Suicide attempts among kids set record, Fort Worth hospital says

The feeling inside the psychiatry department of Cook Children’s Medical Center has, in recent months, been one of alarm.

Mental health professionals at the Fort Worth hospital got into the field because of their desire to help adolescents and their families, giving them constructive ways to deal with emotions, Dr. Kia Carter told the Star-Telegram on Thursday. But as the hospital’s numbers for adolescent suicides and suicide attempts have reached levels not seen in the past, “it’s been alarming for us,” admitted Carter, the co-director of psychiatry at Cook Children’s. Staff have wondered, she said, what more they can do to curb a growing problem, fueled by COVID and increased isolation.

Seven patients died by suicide in 2020, compared to two in 2019 and one in 2018, according to data provided by the hospital. The numbers of patients treated for suicide attempts at the hospital have similarly increased over the past year, and skyrocketed in the beginning of 2021, data shows.

In January, 40 children were admitted to Cook Children’s after attempting suicide, which is double the total from January 2020. Thirty-five children attempted suicide in February, compared to 22 one year earlier. Forty-three children attempted suicide in March, a record high and almost 20 more than March 2020.

The troubling trend has led psychiatric staff at Cook like Carter to ramp up their efforts to educate community members, trying to reach schools, pediatricians’ offices and other places where adults can look for warning signs in children. The hospital is also hoping to send a message to parents that it’s OK to talk about mental health, just like physical health, Carter said.

Cook on Tuesday launched the JOY campaign, which stands for, “Just breathe. Open up. You matter.” The campaign will produce a series of informative articles throughout April to combat the crisis.

“I think our bigger goal is really to teach our community and the families to ask for help,” Carter said over the phone. “We can’t help everyone. Everyone can’t see one of our doctors or one of our therapists. But we’re teaching everybody else that it’s OK and there are more people that can help if you ask for help.”

Suicide became the leading cause of traumatic death at Cook Children’s in 2020, more than car wrecks or child abuse, according to the hospital. Dr. Kristen Pyrc, the other co-director of psychiatry, said in a news release, “The mental health crisis was already happening, then it met a global pandemic and these are the consequences.”

The rise in suicides and suicide attempts among children isn’t specific to North Texas, as hospitals across the country have reported a similar upward trend amid the coronavirus pandemic. Between April and October 2020, hospital ER’s in the U.S. saw an overall increase in visits from children with mental health needs, according to a study from the Centers for Disease Control.

Suicide has become the second leading cause of death among people between the ages of 10 and 34, according to the CDC.

An NPR story from February describes a dire crisis in some areas, like a Nevada school district that lost 19 students to suicide. One Indianapolis hospital went from 67 children and teens treated for suicide attempts in 2019 to 108 in 2020, according to NPR.

Cook has also seen an increase in the number of children admitted for mental health consults, according to the data. For instance, there were 85 in consults in March 2020 and 164 this past March.

In terms of suicide attempts, data shows the large majority of patients have been girls — 33 in January, compared to seven boys; 32 in February, compared to three boys; and 38 in March, compared to five boys. The average age for both female and male patients during those three months was between 14 and 15.

Carter pointed out that girls are typically more likely to attempt suicide by ingesting something, which, if caught early, can be treated. Boys, she said, have in the past been more likely to attempt suicide with more lethal means that are harder or impossible to treat.

Carter believes one factor negatively impacting adolescents is the daily presence of social media in their lives, which can influence how they’re feeling. The pandemic, and specifically the shutdowns and virtual schooling that followed, added to this screentime, she said.

It also robbed kids of many positive outlets to cope with anxiety, she said. There were no football practices or dance classes or other after-school extracurriculars to occupy their time, she said. They lost face-to-face contact with their teachers at school.

“Maybe the teacher or the school counselor was their best friend, or the adult they looked to, and they no longer get to see them,” Carter said.

Ways to help

Addressing a topic as serious as adolescent suicide may seem daunting to a parent, as Carter described over the phone on Thursday. But she said it’s OK to start with simpler conversations.

It’s always good for parents to emphasize with their children that it’s OK to feel sad, or frustrated, or any range of emotions, and it’s nothing to feel guilty about, Carter said. Parents should try to give their kids a safe space to discuss any and all emotions, she said. This is a healthy way to monitor how a child is feeling.

Parents can also keep an eye out for warning signs of deeper mental health problems, which includes large shifts from their normal behavior, Carter said. For instance, if a typically active child began sleeping all day or not taking self-care, that could be a cause for concern.

The goal of JOY, Carter said, is to increase positive conversations around this topic and make children feel OK to speak up with a parent, or a teacher, or a pediatrician if something’s not right.

Though it’s been stressful and alarming at Cook Children’s over the past several months, the staff have come together in support of this mental health initiative, Carter said.

“This campaign really supports our hospital and our community,” she said, “to try to figure out, ‘What else can we do for our families and how can we teach the rest of the community to start being a bigger support system?’”

People can find information on the JOY campaign, which includes resources for kids, at cookchildrens.org/joy.

The National Suicide Prevention Lifeline is 1-800-273-8255. People can also text “Home” to 741-741 to access the crisis text line.