Suicide isn't just a cause of death for teenagers and adults; younger children also commit suicide

Children ages 5-11 also commit suicide.
(Photo by Lukas Metz, Unsplash)

As children enter their new classrooms and routines this fall, it's an excellent time to remember to monitor their mental health. And while many people might not realize it, young children are also at risk to commit suicide. "Suicide ranks as either the seventh- or eighth-leading cause of death among children ages 5 to 11, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and recent studies," reports Cheryl Platzman Weinstock of CBS News. "And numbers show the rates among younger kids appear to have increased in the past decade, especially among Black boys."

Paul Lipkin, a pediatrician at the Kennedy Krieger Institute, told Weinstock, "Historically, we thought that suicide is a problem of teens and adults, but younger children are expressing similar thoughts that may have been ignored before." Weinstock reports, "This has many experts calling for lowering the screening age for suicide ideation in children and moving to develop more effective early suicide risk detection and targeted prevention strategies. The broad approach includes pediatricians, teachers, and parents working with children at a young age to build their resilience and identify and manage their stress."

Weinstock writes, "Studies have found that young children gain an understanding about death and killing oneself from TV or other media, discussions with other children, or exposure to death from a family or community loss. . . . It is quite likely the 136 reported suicides from 2001 to 2021 among 5- to 9-year-olds were an undercount." Margaret Warner, a CDC epidemiologist, told Weinstock: "If we are missing deaths or don't have all the information leading to them, we can't properly develop programs to prevent future deaths." Weinstock adds, "That's why there's also an ongoing national effort by coroners and medical examiners to improve the quality and consistency of pediatric death investigations."

What parents can do now is be aware and observant. Lisa Horowitz, a pediatric psychologist and staff scientist at the National Institute of Mental Health, told Weinstock: "It's never too early to start a conversation with kids about recognizing mental health distress and doing what we can do to help them have better coping strategies and foster resilience. . . . I don't want people to panic but just want them to be vigilant about their children."