There has been a surge in 6–12-year-old children getting exposed to medications, dietary supplements, and psychoactive substances in homes and using them for self-harm or suicide, according to a Sept. 8 study published online in the Pediatrics journal.
Suicide is the second leading cause of death among children aged 10 to 14, according to data from the National Institute of Mental Health, with the first reason being unintentional injury.
During the study period from 2000 to 2023, there were more than 1.5 million substance exposure incidents among children, with the majority of exposures occurring in boys, children aged 6–8 years, involving a single substance, and almost all of the incidents happening in private residences….