Washington (AFP)
Emergency room visits for attempted suicide increased among adolescents during the pandemic in the United States, especially among girls, according to data released Friday by the country's health authorities, once again highlighting the psychological impact of the crisis health for this age group.
"From the beginning of May 2020, the number of emergency room visits for suspected suicide attempts began to increase among adolescents aged 12 to 17, particularly among girls," wrote the Centers for Prevention and Control. Against Diseases (CDC), the country's leading public health agency.
During the summer of 2020 (from the end of July to the end of August), the number of these emergency room visits among adolescents increased by 22% compared to the same period in 2019. Then during the winter (from the end of February 2020 to the end of March 2021), the increase increased further to 39% compared to 2019.
In detail, for this winter period, the increase was 50.6% for girls, against 3.7% for boys.
The CDC notes that girls are consistently more likely to attempt suicide.
"Despite everything, the results of this study show greater distress in young girls than what had been identified so far by previous work during the pandemic, which reinforces the need to pay more attention to this population," and exercise more prevention, ”write the CDC.
"Young people represent a high-risk group because they may have been particularly affected by the measures" taken to curb the pandemic, they add, citing in particular the lack of contact with teachers and classmates, but also the increase in substance use or worrying about money problems in families.
The reported factors that led to these suicide attempts, however, were not examined for this study, the CDC said.
© 2021 AFP