Child, adolescent mortality hits 15-year high, fueled by pandemic suicides, homicides, and overdoses

A recent study revealed that adolescent deaths have reached a 15-year high with data showing the cause to be from pandemic-related suicides, homicides, and overdoses.

According to a report published in the Journal of the American Medical Association that analyzed CDC data, the mortality rate for children ages 1 to 19 increased by 10.7 percent between 2019 and 2020, with an additional 8.3 percent increase in 2021.



Dr. Steven Woolf, director emeritus of the Center on Society and Health at Virginia Commonwealth University, warned that while "the pandemic did not initiate these trends, it may have poured fuel on the fire." 

"I have not seen this in my career," Dr. Woolf said.

"For decades, the overall death rate among US children has fallen steadily, thanks to breakthroughs in prevention and treatment of diseases like premature births, pediatric cancer, and birth defects," he explained. "We now see a dramatic reversal of this trajectory, meaning that our children are now less likely to reach adulthood. This is a red flashing light. We need to understand the causes and address them immediately to protect our children."

Since 2007, the mortality rate for suicides among children ages 10 to 19 has increased by 70 percent, while homicide deaths in the age group increased by 33.3 percent since 2013.
 

Woolf explained that the "likely contributors to both trends include increased access to firearms and a deepening mental health crisis among children and adolescents," according to the report.

During the pandemic, demand for mental health support far outpaced supply, leaving young patients especially vulnerable. Children as young as eight went to doctors with thoughts about killing themselves.

Lois Lee, a pediatric emergency physician at Boston Children’s Hospital who chairs the American Academy of Pediatrics Council on Injury, Violence and Poison Prevention, explained that her practice has seen a drastic increase in young children coming into the office with thoughts of ending their own lives. 

"We are seeing younger and younger patients coming in with mental-health crises, and even those 8 to 10 years old coming in with suicidal ideation," Dr. Lee told The Wall Street Journal.

The study revealed that overdose deaths for children between the ages of 10 and 19 started to increase right before the pandemic and are still on a steady incline.

Injury mortality was also recently up, increasing 23 percent for ages 10 to 19 between 2019 and 2020, along with a 39 percent rise in homicides and a 114 percent climb in overdoses.