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Cases of children attempting suicide continue to climb at Cook Children’s Health Care System, with the hospital reporting it's seen a 104% increase from 2015 to 2020.
One of the simplest ways to prevent pediatric attempted suicide, according to the hospital, is to lock away prescription drugs at home.
That's why Cook Children's is calling on families to participate in National Prescription Drug Take Back Day on Saturday. The hospital is encouraging families to lock away prescription medications or toss out those that are expired — hence reducing a child's accessibility to something that can kill them.
“Before COVID, we saw misuse of nonprescription drugs by kids,” Dr. Stacey VanVliet, a pediatric hospitalist at Cook Children’s, said in a statement. “With the pandemic, we’ve seen the rates go up even higher than before. These things are common and easy to get a hold of, and I think that's what leads to the frequency and overuse — the easy access part.”
The hospital is working with Fort Worth organizations like Safe Kids North Texas and the Jordan Elizabeth Harris Foundation to provide medication lock boxes, whose funding comes from a dedicated injury prevention budget, according to Dana Walraven, child safety manager for Safe Kids North Texas.
Participation in National Prescription Drug Take Back Day coincides with Cook Children's JOY Campaign, an initiative that offers education and resources to prevent child suicide. Cook Children's reports having seen 294 attempted suicides in 2020, and as of August 2021, there have already been 293 cases.
Nationally, according to a study by the Children’s Hospital Association, children’s hospitals have experienced a 14% increase in mental health emergencies for children ages 5 – 17 during the first two quarters of 2021, as compared to that of 2019. In this same time period, children’s hospitals saw a 45% increase of self-harm and suicide in children ages 5 – 17, as compared to 2019.
According to VanVliet, one of the best suicide prevention strategies is simply talking.
“I always encourage the teenagers and their parents to be in regular communication, have a family dinner if you can, talk about the great things in your life, and talk about what’s not going so great," VanVliet says. "Try to do some action planning, asking if this becomes too much to handle, what do we do next?”
