Bill aims to reduce child suicide rates that advocates say are rising, trending younger

Mental health advocates joined Sen. Richard Blumenthal in Hartford on Monday to announce a bill that aims to improve resources for suicide prevention among children.

The Child Suicide Prevention and Lethal Means Safety Act comes after a new report from the Office of the Child Advocate that states suicide rates among children are increasing, and those impacted are getting younger.

"We need to act. We’re facing a perfect storm, almost an epidemic of child suicide," Blumenthal said.

The bill is designed to provide education, training and research and also enforce red flag laws and the safe storage of firearms.

"If you prevent access to objects of self-harm so that kids have a fighting chance to get some counseling before they act out on suicidal ideation, there’s hope," Blumenthal said.

He said the issue is hidden in plain sight, and people want to turn away from the painful topic, but need to face it head-on.

"[It’s] beyond disturbing and gut wrenching," he said.

Monday's news conference took place at The Village For Families & Children Inc. in Hartford. Experts spoke out about suicide trends, and how it’s now the second leading cause of death for ages 10 to 24-year-olds.

‘Youth ages 10 to 24 saw an increase in suicides by 50% in 2018, and this further increased in 2020 during the pandemic,’ said Dr. Laine Taylor, chief medical officer at The Village. ‘It’s pretty stark. You can see it in the emergency departments, you can see it here, you can see it on every level of care. The number of kids who are coming in and are at a space where they have extreme aggression or thoughts of suicide or depression that’s just intractable, that has grown.’

Assistant Child Advocate Brendan Burke pointed to data from the Connecticut Dept. of Public Health that surveyed high schoolers.

"Fourteen-percent reported considering to attempt suicide, 6% attempted," he said. "The numbers suggest that it’s trending younger and efforts need to be made throughout the system of care and continuing mental health services to ensure the children get the care they need at the time they need it from qualified individuals."

Dr. Taylor pointed to social media as a contributing factor to why children are experiencing more anxiety and depression.

"Our kids are not playing, they’re watching," she said. "The connections they make are presented with unrealistic life and appearances that no 12-year-old can achieve."

Dr. Laura Saunders, a child psychologist at The Institute of Living, said there are many factors to take into consideration.

"Family stressors, financial stressors, social stressors, any losses or changes," she said.

Saunders says parents should be alert to changes in their children, like more irritability, being withdrawn if they’re typically social, and not enjoying things like they used to.

"The hard part is parents, I think realize this and then ask and children just say ‘I'm fine, I'm fine’ when clearly their words and their behavior are not matching."

She said the biggest thing parents can do is have direct and open conversations about suicidal thoughts.

"It's actually a myth that asking those questions directly puts the idea in your child's head. Very often the idea is already there, and the fact that you're willing to ask the question directly is a sign that you're open to talking about it."

If you or someone you know is in crisis, call or text 988 to reach the Suicide and Crisis Lifeline or chat live at 988lifeline.org. You can also visit SpeakingOfSuicide.com/resources for additional support.