The pandemic that started in 2019 has been affecting the world since, and the countries have been trying hard to stop the infections from spreading. This pandemic is not limited to only one country, but it has affected all the countries in the world. People have lost their loved ones, and so many innocent people have lost their lives as well. Even though the countries have been taking all the safety measure like mandatory masks to avoid people are getting infected. But the countries have not been able to stop the infection of the virus completely, but they have been successful in stopping it temporally.
Increase In The Suicide Attempts Among Teen Girls Due To Pandemic
The United States of America has been at the top of the list with the highest number of infected cases in the world and death rates.
As per the recent reports, the total number of people affected by the infection is more than 3.3 crore and the total number of death in the United States is more than 9.4 lakh. But after providing the vaccinations, the number of new cases in the United States has reduced and the people have started living the life of post-pandemic.
But since the pandemic is not ended, there have been different side effects in different countries. In the United States of America, it is observed that during the pandemic, the number of teen girls suicide cases has been increased when compared with the pre-pandemic cases. As per the recent reports, the suicide attempt rate has leaped by as much as half among teenage girls during the pandemic as per the reports of a government study.
As per the reports of the Center for Disease Control and Prevention, the emergency room visits of the suspected suicide cases increased by 26% during the summer, but by winter, it was about 50%, and the age of these girls was between 12 and 17 years. When compared these rates with the rates in 2019, the rates have increased, and similarly, the suicide attempts of teen boys who are of the same age and young adults aged between 18 to 25 years have remained stable during the pandemic. The findings suggest that there is more severe distress among young females than has been identified in previous reports during the pandemic, which has lead to increased attention need to these this population to prevent the same from happening in the future as per the reports published on June 11 in the Center for Disease Control and Prevention’s Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report.
One of the researchers at the Island University in New York City mentioned that everyone is at some degree of risk for mental health problems like depressions and anxiety. The underlying risk is often external variables such as substances, trauma, illness, or even medications. But one of the stable findings from the 30 years of research is that mood disorders can cause disturbances in our social rhythms, gradually increase the risk, and even predict the development of major depressive episodes.
This is why the researchers are concerned about the accumulating emotional burden caused by the effects of the pandemic on our habits and social interactions, majorly in children and adolescents for whom social interactions and peer involvement are crucial both for their healthy development and their emotional well being. As per the Centres for Disease Control and Prevention reports, self-reported suicide cases are higher among girls than a boy, and research shows that prior pandemic girls had higher and increasing rates of emergency department visits related to suicide attempts than boys. The study also mentioned that young girls are more affected due to the pandemic and lockdowns, which breaks contact with their schools, teachers, and friends.