Sometimes headlines grab our attention with shocking effects: How can this be so?

Columbiana County kids at higher risk for mental health problems (WKBN – Sept. 29, 2022), OHSU researchers find startling increase in suicide attempts by preteen children nationwide (Oregon Health and Science University, March 15, 2022). Increased suicide rates among children aged 5 to 11 years in the U.S. (Children’s Welfare League of America), Our kids in crisis (AARP Bulletin, September 2022).

What is drastically wrong with our society that children – 5-years-old – are taking their own lives? Where do these ideas even come from with children so young? While the pandemic has contributed to the mental health crisis with our children, the fact is that researchers noticed an increase in these suicides as early as 2012. Pre-pandemic. But they can’t say exactly why.

The news video advises that a 2021 survey of Columbiana County youth (1,500 responses), shows that 23 percent have attempted suicide. That is about 345 students.

Between 2000 and 2020, Poison Control centers across the country reported a total of 928,000 incidents of 6- to 18-year-olds “intentionally ingesting” toxic substances, OHSU states.

“All age groups showed a rise in suicidal ingestions, with the most dramatic increase among preteens,” the agency advises. They don’t know why. The pandemic, they say, “worsened the national emergency in child and adolescent mental health.”

The Child Welfare League of America (CWLA) says that of a group of 134 child suicide victims, 75 percent (or 100) were male and 59 percent (or 79) were white. School/peer-related incidents were involved in the cases. “The progression to suicide behavior accumulated over time … an argument between the child victim and a family member or disciplinary action was often the precipitating circumstance of the suicide.”

But as despairing as the above headlines are, there is hope: Family-based intervention lowers long term suicide risk in youth (National Institute on Mental Health – NIMH, Sept. 29, 2022).

NIMH researchers “examined the impact of a family-based intervention on suicide risk in youth and found risk-reduction benefits up to 10 years later.” The interventions focus on things like conflict resolution, supportive parenting strategies, problem-solving strategies, and communication skills. The findings of this study from Case Western Reserve University noted “significantly lower suicide risk, and it did not differ by race, ethnicity or gender.”

Family Recovery Center’s new director of education, James Stitt, comes to the agency with an extensive background in education as a principal (elementary and high school) and coach in Trumbull County. When he retired, he worked at a day care center where, he says, his eyes were really opened. He saw the needs of the youngest children and urged the day care to bring social workers on staff to meet those needs. There is grant funding available for this. He also mentioned “social-emotional learning” (SEL). SEL teaches self-awareness, self-management, social awareness, relationship skills and responsible decision-making.

FRC is known as a recovery center for substance use/misuse/abuse recovery, but the agency is also about prevention. Teamwork is required to make a difference. Are you in?

Family Recovery Center offers mental health services as well as addiction services. The goal is for the health and well-being of all. For more information about the education, prevention and treatment programs for substance abuse and related behavioral issues, contact the agency at 964 N. Market St., Lisbon; phone, 330-424-1468; or email, info@familyrecovery.org. Visit the website at familyrecovery.org. FRC is funded in part by Columbiana County Mental Health and Recovery Services Board.