Rise in suicide-related ED visits among youth raises larger questions around mental health care
Visits to the emergency department related to suicide among children and adults aged 6 to 24 in the U.S. increased fivefold from 2011 to 2020, according to a new study published Tuesday. The increase was significant in all age groups across sex, race and ethnicity, insurance type, and geography.
“It is somewhat expected, given increasing rates of suicide deaths, but … it is just sad news … and fivefold is a huger increase than we expected,” said Greg Rhee, one of the study authors and an assistant professor of medicine and public health at Yale University.
