US teen suicide attempts rise during pandemic

Suspected suicide attempts among teenage girls rose sharply during the pandemic and became worse as restrictions persisted, the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has said. Hospital emergency departments were already seeing the increase by May 2020 but by March this year they witnessed a 50 per cent increase in average weekly visits for suspected suicide attempts among teenage girls compared with before the pandemic.

The study noted the possible impact of “[Covid] mitigation measures”.