PEORIA, Ill. – The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has been tracking a lot of data during the Covid-19 pandemic, including attempted suicides. Among those statistics is that suicide attempts increased among adolescents aged 12 to 17, especially young girls.
The CDC reports from February to March 2021, average weekly visits to the emergency department for suspected suicide attempts among young girls were up 50% from the same period a year ago.
Officials at OSF HealthCare Children’s Hospital of Illinois say they have seen an increase in emergency department visits as well.
“We often thought like teenage girls and that’s a challenging time, but we’re getting kids of a younger age and especially girls,” said Bernice Gordon-Young, a psychotherapist with OSF HealthCare. “Now there’s lots of information and lots of research really targeting those girls because that’s a different need. There’s a comparison, their bodies against each other and social media, and there’s also, peer relationships, and just what we call Mean Girls. I hear a lot of those things, of feeling left out or not feeling good enough.”
Gordon-Young says after listening to the challenges faced by those who come to her, some of what she’s heard over the past 16 months is of great concern.
“There are things like self-harming. There’s a lot of vaping going on. They’re also getting access to edibles, and they’re coming through the mail,” Gordon-Young said. “Those are coming to your homes, many homes, and parents just don’t know. They find people who have access and it just gets distributed to them. And that’s how they’re coping in an unhealthy way. That’s why I really work with our kids because they will share – if we listen to them without judgment – they’ll share with us. If it’s not happening to them, what’s happening around them.”
As a result of pandemic-related lockdowns and social distancing, the influence of social media may get some of the blame, but Gordon-Young says there are both good and bad influences from it.
“There is homophobia, there is racism, there is bullying. So they are seeking assistance or seeking acceptance in some of the places that may hurt them the most. And so we have to monitor that as well,” Gordon-Young said.
“Sometimes they spend too much time on social media and they’re not socializing and they’re losing that component. So isolation has become their norm, then they have difficulty reintegrating back into society, since we were disconnected for so long.”
Gordon-Young says it is important to talk to children and, more importantly, listen to them. She says regardless of the where the call was coming from, the concerns, for the most part, were the same – they want know when they were going to be okay, how to help make things be okay, and they needed to hear that it’s okay not be okay.
Gordon-Young says to watch for signs that something is not quite right and know there are resources out there to help.
“Eating disorders or something else that has become problematic for numerous reasons. Anxiety is often related to easing disorders, sometimes depression as well,” Gordon-Young said.
“There are numerous mentoring programs. It’s also important to get the kids involved in something, there are camps that are going on this summer. Get them out of the house, let them have some fun. It’s really important to recognize that there are resources out there, and there are resources that don’t cost anything.”
A variety of programs and services are offered throughout the communities served by OSF HealthCare and through “It Takes A Village,” the non-profit organization established by Gordon-Young as a support system for children, families and other individuals.
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