Sharp rise in young people overdosing on painkillers and antidepressants

Soaring numbers of children, teenagers and young adults have been deliberately poisoning themselves with overdoses of drugs such as painkillers and antidepressants as a response to feelings of distress, according to a new study.

Experts said the sharp rises – the latest evidence of the growing crisis in young people’s mental health – were particularly alarming because those who poisoned themselves were up to 32 times more likely to die by suicide in the 10 years after their overdose.

In light of the findings, doctors have been urging parents to do more to try to prevent children at home from having easy access to supplies of over-the-counter drugs, prescribed medicines and alcohol, to reduce their risk of using them to harm themselves.

“Why are young people doing this? Each self-poisoning is a sign of distress. It could be because they have a serious depressive disorder and want to end their lives. Or it could be a cry for help, because they are struggling to get the help they need,” said Dr Bernadka Dubicka, the chair of the Royal College of Psychiatrists’ child and adolescent faculty.

“It could also be that they feel they aren’t being taken seriously by people close to them. And it could be happening because some young people struggle to put their distress into words”, added Dubicka, who said the findings were “very troubling”.

Young people who self-harm by cutting themselves often do so to get relief from their feelings, and that becomes a regular way of coping with their emotions. In contrast, those who ingest toxic substances may do so to end their life or as an opportunistic action, Dubicka said.

Overdoses involving substances like those investigated can do long-term damage. Prof Helen Stokes-Lampard, the chair of the Royal College of GPs, said: “The self-poisoning methods being used by young people – whether that be the misuse of paracetamol, alcohol, opioids or something else – can have dangerous implications on a person’s short-term and long-term physical and mental health.”

The findings were based on the medical records of 40,333 self-poisonings among 31,509 children and young people aged between 10 and 25 that occurred in England between 1998 and 2014. Of those incidents, two-thirds (66.5%) were intentional, the authors of the NHS-funded study said.

The number of children, teenagers and young adults who were poisoned by painkillers jumped fivefold during that time.

The study also found:

• a threefold to fourfold leap in people aged 10 to 25 being poisoned by antidepressants.

• a trebling in those who needed medical treatment after taking too much aspirin or anti-inflammatory drugs, such as ibuprofen.

• a threefold rise in females poisoned by paracetamol.

The findings underlined that young females were much more likely than their male counterparts to experience distress in a way that prompted them to self-harm. Girls and young women were involved in 19,164 (61%) of the 31,509 poisonings investigated; while boys and young men accounted for 12,345 (39%).

The two groups within the 10-25 age range that saw the biggest rises in poisonings over the 16 years that the study took place were 16- to 18-year-old females, notably for paracetamol, and 19- to 24-year-old males. “There was a sharp rise in paracetamol poisonings among 10- to 15-year-old females in the most recent two years,” the study said. It added: “for poisonings involving alcohol, the biggest increase was among 19- to 24-year-old females.”

A team led by Edward Tyrrell, a clinical assistant professor specialising in primary care based at the University of Nottingham’s medical school, worked on the research by examining patients’ GP and hospital records. The findings were published on Tuesday in the British Journal of General Practice.

Andy Bell, the deputy chief executive of the Centre for Mental Health thinktank, said: “Self-harm should always be taken seriously, and never written off as ‘attention seeking’. Self-harm is a sign of very significant distress and so demands a compassionate and empathic response.”

He added that schools, families and young people needed to be helped to spot the signs of mental health problems developing in young people.

Young people can benefit from alternatives to drugs, such as talking therapies including cognitive behavioural therapy, said Dubicka, but she added: “access to these is often patchy across the country, especially services targeted for young people”.

An NHS England spokesperson said: “Making sure children and young people have the right mental health care when they need it is a priority for the NHS. The NHS is now significantly expanding access to mental health services so that by 2021 an additional 70,000 children and young people will have received help.”

• In the UK, Samaritans can be contacted on 116 123 or email jo@samaritans.org. In the US, the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline is 1-800-273-8255. In Australia, the crisis support service Lifeline is 13 11 14. Other international suicide helplines can be found at www.befrienders.org.