There was a 37% increase in the number of deliberate self-poisonings by young girls, with a strong correlation with the pandemic’s social restrictions, according to a new Australian study.
Self-poisoning is the most common form of hospitalized self-harm among children and adolescents and increased in the decade before the pandemic.
The study, which was published in the Australian and New Zealand Journal of Psychiatry, compared the period between March 2020 and December 2023 with the period 2018-2019 and
found rates of deliberate self-poisoning were 84% higher among those aged 5–14 years, and 36% higher among those aged 15–19 years. There were only very small changes among males and older Australians.
Within the cohort of 5 to 14 year olds, self-poisonings rose particularly among girls aged 11 to 14.
The researchers say the rise in self-poisoning by adolescent females appeared to be driven by lockdowns rather than COVID-19 infections.
This marked increase occurred between March 2020 and December 2021 and coincided with widespread lockdowns. After the relaxing of restrictions in early 2022, there was a sudden drop and then slow decline; however, rates still remain well above pre-pandemic rates.
Another recent study provided further evidence of a disproportionate negative effect of the lockdowns and social restrictions on young girls’ health.
The study shows that the stress of the pandemic social-restrictions caused the brains of adolescents, and particularly young girls, to age at an accelerated rate, putting them at higher risk of various neuropsychiatric and behavioural disorders.
Using advanced imaging techniques, like MRI, the scientists measured key indices of brain health including gray-matter volume, cortical thickness and white-matter integrity, which are used to estimate an individual’s brain age.
Cortical thinning, for example, takes place normally over the course of adolescence, as parts of the outer layer are “pruned” to help the brain function more efficiently. It’s well established, however, that if an individual is subject to chronic stress in any form—whether that’s social stress, sleep deprivation or an illness—thinning can take place at an accelerated rate. When an individual’s brain age exceeds their actual age, there’s a greater risk of everything from cognitive decline to anxiety and mood disorders, especially among children and teenagers.
Researchers found a significant increase in cortical thinning during the pandemic for adolescents, indicating severe stress.
For boys, the thinning was localised, and mainly affected visual-spatial regions of the brain, but for girls, the thinning was widespread, affecting many regions across both hemispheres and lobes. These included areas responsible for social and emotional processing, such as the fusiform gyrus and the superior temporal cortex. The researchers think this difference has something to do with the fact that girls rely more heavily on their social networks for support, and these networks were totally disrupted by the pandemic.