Sharing – Childhood suicide: thoughts, plans and behaviours

I think the intro paragraph Ellen wrote is reason enough to go read the whole thing. But, I also want you to pay attention to what this study has to say about the reported rates of suicidal thoughts reported by kids, versus their parents.(The statistics she quotes should clue you in on how often parents don’t know.)

“When I give talks about self-harm and suicide in children and young people, many in the audience are often shocked because (i) I look much older in real life than in my outdated faculty photo (see above) and (ii) because of the surprising statistics I discuss: notably that suicide is the leading cause of death in 5-19 year olds in England and Wales (ONS) and globally the second largest cause (WHO). Moreover, we know that 50-60% of children and adolescents who tragically die by suicide have self-harmed previously (NCISH, 2017) and this increased risk of suicide can last for many years (Hawton et al 2020).”

https://www.nationalelfservice.net/mental-health/suicide/childhood-suicide/