Teen’s Suicide Tied To COVID-19 Isolation

The family of a Maine 16-year-old who recently died by suicide says he cited feeling "locked in" and "growing apart from his friends"...and are warning others who feel the same way to seek help. WCSH's Jackie Mundry reports.

(NBC News) — A teenager in Brunswick, Maine, recently died by suicide. Now his family is speaking about their tragedy and says it’s not about them, but about other teens who are feeling the same way during the pandemic.

Spencer Smith left a note for his parents, writing about feeling locked in the house and growing apart from his friends.

“He’s loved by so many that it’s hard to believe he’s this depressed and he did this,” Spencer’s dad, Jay Smith said.

Spencer was just 16-years-old.

Jay said kids and teenagers need better support during this pandemic. Smith added that kids need to be back in school and doing extracurricular activities.

“The kids need their peers more than ever now,” Jay said

Pastor Mark Rockwood, the Chaplin at the Brunswick Police Department, responded to the call at the Smith’s home on Friday.

Rockwood said he’s hearing from a lot of teens in his youth group about not being able to see their friends, some of them saying they have friends who are having dark thoughts, just like Spencer did.

“It’s already a stressful time for many of them,” Rockwood said. “And now, when they don’t have the ability to have that social interaction with one another, that puts more added stress on them.”

Read more here.