Healio (4/1, Downey) reports, “Many young teenagers, especially gender minority youth, know someone who has attempted suicide,” investigators concluded after assessing “data from 3,979 teenagers aged 14 and 15 years who were recruited between October 2018 and August 2019 for Growing up with Media, a national longitudinal survey.” The study also revealed that “youths’ exposure to suicidal behavior was related to higher levels of depressed mood.” The findings were published online April 1 in Pediatrics.

Related Links:

— “Gender minority youth more likely to know someone who has attempted suicide “Ken Downey Jr., Healio, April 1, 2021

CNN (4/1, Rios) reports, “Millions have survived Covid-19 hospitalization, and, for most, the acute physical symptoms have gone away.” But many “continue to endure the emotional and psychological trauma that comes with having Covid-19.” A study “published February 2021 found that 30% of Covid-19 survivors experienced post-traumatic stress disorder, or PTSD, a psychological illness that usually occurs after someone has a life-threatening experience.”

Related Links:

— “Post-Covid PTSD: the storm after the storm “Christopher Rios, CNN, April 1, 2021

Newsweek (4/1, Slisco) reports, “Suicide rates dropped in 2020 despite former President Donald Trump warning that COVID-19 lockdowns would lead to an increasing number of people taking their own lives.” Total US suicides for 2020 “numbered 44,834, over 2,600 fewer deaths than 2019’s total of 47,511, according to National Center for Health Statistics figures cited in an article published Wednesday by the Journal of the American Medical Association.” A smaller decrease of “around 800 happened between 2018 and 2019.”

Related Links:

— “Suicides Fell by 2,600 in 2020, Despite Donald Trump’s Lockdown Warnings “Aila Slisco, Newsweek , April 1, 2021

The Washington Post (3/30, Lumpkin) reports across the US, “some school leaders and experts say the pandemic has brought new urgency to a mental health crisis that had been unraveling on college campuses for years.” College students say the social isolation brought on by the pandemic and associated restrictions have made it more difficult to study and strained relationships with their families and friends. The Washington Post adds “evidence shows college students experienced higher rates of anxiety, depression and suicidal ideation in 2020 than in 2019.”

Related Links:

— “The Washington Post (requires login and subscription)

Healio (3/31, Gramigna) reports, “A significant number of children with autism spectrum disorder [ASD] did well by middle childhood in one or more key domains of developmental health,” investigators concluded in a study that included “272 children with ASD.” The findings of the “longitudinal cohort study” were published online March 29 in JAMA Network Open.

Related Links:

— “Most children with autism ‘do well’ by middle childhood in key developmental domains “Joe Gramigna, Healio, March 31, 2021