What you can do to prevent childhood suicide amid concerning Kentucky trends

BOWLING GREEN, Ky. – Childhood suicide has been a problem in the U.S., and in 2022, Kentucky was ranked among the top 20 worst states for childhood suicide.

According to the Kentucky Youth Risk Behavior Survey, 15% of Kentucky high schoolers have seriously considered suicide within the last year, and 17.4% of Kentucky middle schoolers considered suicide at some point in their life.

We spoke to Dr. Shawn Brown, a psychiatrist at Med Center Health in Bowling Green, who says a thinning of resources, especially after the pandemic, has led to these types of numbers.

Suicide is a preventable tragedy though.

“Far too often people, we hear after the fact, ‘well, I noticed they hadn’t been smiling as much’ or ‘they were not talking to their friends as much’ or ‘they just seemed off.’ Stuff like that. Say something. We live in a time in an age where there’s so many things influencing children. It is not positive. Quite a bit of it is negative, and to simply ignore that is going to increase the risk further for the child to have problems in coping with it, ” Brown said.

For parents, some warning signs you should look out for is increased anger and hostility and lessening contact with friends and family.

Brown also says to never be afraid to ask your child how they are feeling and if they need any help.