Shocking new figures reveal that the year following lockdown and school closures saw a massive spike in children attempting to harm or kill themselves. The Mail has more.
Hospital admissions for suicide attempts soared by a quarter in 2021 following the pandemic, according to new statistics from NHS England Digital seen by the Mail on Sunday.
The surge in the number of under 18-year-olds trying to kill or seriously harm themselves in just a year from more than 20,000 (20,428) to more than 25,000 (25,515) also marked the highest figures since comparable records began in 2000.
Tragically, lockdown also saw the highest ever rate in a decade for child and teenage suicides, which rose by more than half from 150 in 2011 to 229 suicides of under 19s in 2021. …
Other figures from this period reveal a staggering 150,000 children were admitted to hospital over the last seven years up to the end of March 2024 after a suicide attempt or severe incident of self-harm.
Separate NHS England Digital figures for A&E admissions for children’s self-harm saw numbers rocket by a massive 55% after the first year of lockdowns and school closures.
Mental health problems among children and adolescents have risen sharply as a result of lockdown with referrals to children and young people’s mental health services increasing by 140% since the pandemic.
The latest NHS figures (to the end of 2022) revealed rates of probable mental health disorders for 17 to 19-year-olds almost tripled between 2017 and 2022, going up from 10% to 26% of the age group.
The Care Quality Commission now estimates that one in five children and young people between the ages of eight and 25 have a mental health disorder, vastly more than before Covid struck.
Charity YoungMinds told the Mail on Sunday that more than 2,000 children had tried to take their own lives while waiting for specialist treatment.
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