Distrubing figures have revealed a tragic spike in children trying to kill or harm themselves a year after lockdown and school closures were imposed on the UK.
According to new statistics from NHS England Digital, hospital admissions for suicide attempts soared by a quarter in 2021 following the pandemic.
The Mail Online reports: The surge in the number of under 18-year-olds trying to kill or seriously harm themselves in just a year from more than 20,000 (20,428) to more than 25,000 (25,515) also marked the highest figures since comparable records began in 2000.
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Tragically, lockdown also saw the highest ever rate in a decade for child and teenage suicides, which rose by more than half from 150 in 2011 to 229 suicides of under 19s in 2021.
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Among them was Christopher Nota, 19, from Essex, who died in July 2020 following a series of suicide attempts.
He was first admitted to hospital after trying to take his life in April of that year, an attempt which his mother, Julia Hopper, says was directly connected to the lockdown.
Before that period she says he was a ‘happy-go-lucky, gentle, polite, fun and the girls all loved him. He was caring, he understood how it was to struggle. He was very active and social’.
When the lockdown came into force, Christopher, who was autistic, ‘was very worried – more worried than a normal person’, said Ms Hopper.
She added: ‘The fact that Christopher could not go out to see his friends because of the lockdowns made him absolutely terrified. We couldn’t even go for a walk.
‘These factors were critical to Christopher’s safety and they were just erased. The doctors knew Christopher should stay in hospital and they kept discharging him.’
On one occasion, he went missing after planning to kill himself, but was picked up by the police and taken to hospital.
Ms Hopper said it was more difficult for him to recover however, because she was not able to visit him on the mental health ward due to Covid restrictions.
She also claimed he was ‘prematurely and dangerously discharged from hospital’ in what she believes was a move to make space for patients with the virus.
After further suicide attempts, he tragically took his own life.
Other figures from this period reveal a staggering 150,000 children were admitted to hospital over the last seven years up to the end of March 2024 after a suicide attempt or severe incident of self-harm.
Separate NHS England Digital figures for A and E admissions for children’s self-harm saw numbers rocket by a massive 55 per cent after the first year of lockdowns and school closures.
Mental health problems among children and adolescents have risen sharply as a result of lockdown with referrals to children and young people’s mental health services increasing by 140 per cent since the pandemic.
