A new study has disclosed a significant rise in suspected self-harm poisonings among children, largely driven by over-the-counter pain medications like ibuprofen and acetaminophen. 

Analysis of US Poison Control data from 2000 to 2023 indicated that these suspected poisonings have escalated by over 300 percent post-2008, with the sharpest increase among preteens. In particular, incidents involving 11- and 12-year-olds surged by nearly 400 percent.

While the self-harm events represent a smaller fraction of total exposures, they account for a disproportionate share of serious harm. 

In such cases, children are more than 14 times likelier to be hospitalized and have an eightfold increased risk of serious medical outcomes compared to those with unintentional poisonings. 

Throughout the study, over 1.5 million substance exposure cases were reported among kids aged six to 12, resulting in 95 fatalities, including 25 from intentional acts. Pain relievers and allergy medications were the primary substance categories involved in these self-harm cases.

This crisis unfolds against a backdrop where suicide is the second-leading cause of death for Americans aged 10 to 24.

Additionally, accidental medication errors have risen by 79 percent since 2000, remaining the most common exposure type. Initially driven by cough/cold remedies and painkillers, this increase later included a concerning 131 percent rise in antihistamine errors.

Experts warn that the easy availability of these drugs, taken by around 100 million Americans each year, contributes to the problem. 

Dr Jason Lewis at the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia told CBS News : ‘The most significant category was pain relievers, over-the-counter Tylenol, Advil, things like that.

‘People, parents, have a false sense of security that it’s safe and can not be used in a harmful way.’

Suicide is the second-leading cause of death for children between the ages of 10 and 14 in the US, and for Americans 15 to 24 years old.

Suspected self-harm exposures rose by over 300 percent from 2009 to 2021 when compared to the period from 2000 to 2008. The crisis appeared most acute among preteens, with rates for 11- and 12-year-olds soaring by nearly 400 percent.

While the vast majority of the over 1.5 million total exposures were accidental, there were more than 72,500 reported cases of suspected self-harm poisoning in this 6-12 age group over the 23-year study period. 

Although most exposures had minimal consequences, these self-harm incidents resulted in 25 deaths and accounted for a severely disproportionate number of serious medical outcomes.

The toxic dose of a substance depends on multiple factors, including the child’s weight, the form the drug was taken in, age, underlying health conditions, and whether it was taken with other substances.

Two children of different sizes who ingest the same amount of the same medication can have drastically different outcomes. 

Toxicity is often a function of dose per unit of body weight. An infant or child’s smaller organ size, particularly the liver and kidneys, also means they metabolize and eliminate substances much more slowly than adults. 

For the average 12-year-old, the risk of serious bodily harm mounts when they take around 12 tablets of 500 mg acetaminophen, over eighty 200 mg tablets of ibuprofen, or 12 tablets of 25 mg Benadryl.

Acetaminophen overdose overwhelms the liver, depleting a vital antioxidant and causing a toxic buildup that kills liver cells. This leads to acute liver failure, resulting in fatal bleeding and brain swelling from unfiltered toxins. 

An NSAID overdose, like that with ibuprofen, causes multiple system failures, including severe metabolic acidosis, when the blood becomes dangerously acidic, acute kidney failure, and seizures. Death usually results from cardiac arrest or respiratory failure triggered by these combined crises. 

And as central nervous system depressants, antihistamines like Benadryl can cause fatal respiratory depression where breathing stops, coma, seizures and dangerous heart rhythms in significant overdose. 

A key suspect behind rising youth suicidal behavior is social media, which is strongly linked to increased depression. 

However, researchers note other complex factors are also at play, including academic pressure, family instability, anxiety over global events and better mental health awareness. 

The researchers noted that the suicide rate for five to 11-year-olds is rising, with the rate for preteen girls increasing more rapidly than for boys. 

Based on CDC data cited in previous research, the suicide rate among children aged five to 11 years increased by over 50 percent between 2010 and 2020.

And suicide deaths among 10- to 24-year-olds increased by 62 percent from 2007 to 2021. 

Research released last summer found that suicide is rising dramatically in preteens as young as eight years old, with an 8.2 percent annual increase from 2008 to 2022.

This trend is part of a longer, more alarming rise over the past decade, making suicide a leading cause of death in this very young age group. The increase has been particularly pronounced among Black children in this demographic.

There were 72,437 reported exposures involving suspected self-harm or suicidal intent, according to the latest study. Girls accounted for 83 percent of these exposures.

A national-level analysis of substance-related exposures linked to suspected self-harm or suicidal intent among preteens is now necessary, the researchers said.

They added: ‘There has been extensive research about exposures to substances among children younger than 6 years and among teenagers. 

‘However, there is a paucity of research on substance exposures, including in association with suspected self-harm or suicidal intent, among the 6- to 12-year-old age group.’ 

The study noted a slight dip in self-harm and suicide crises after peaking in 2021, a reversal that may be a delayed effect of the Covid pandemic, which initially triggered a surge in cases of severe depression and shifted the problem to even younger children.

The subsequent decline may reflect the success of new suicide prevention efforts launched in response to the pandemic’s severe toll on youth mental health. 

The crisis was marked by a documented surge in anxiety, depression, isolation, and suicidal ideation, prompting a major public health response. 

The data served as a catalyst, prompting an urgent response from the public health sector. 

Lewis added: ‘This was an age group that we frequently did not think of suicide, so now we’re recognizing it’s a specific, significant problem.

‘Unfortunately, there have been rising rates of psychiatric illness, especially depression, and we know suicide is one of the signs and symptoms of depression.’

The study was published in the journal Pediatrics.