Rx For Parenting Today

Why are Youth Suicides increasing?

A good article in the 12/3/19 New York Times stressed the importance of doing something about the marked increase in youth suicides. It stressed that from 2000 to 2007 the suicide rate of youths from ten years to twenty-four increased by 56 percent. That is startling. It is the second leading cause of death in this age group next to car accidents.  It also stated that "since 2011, there's been nearly a 400 percent increase nationally in suicide attempts by self-poisoning." 

What is going on? Are parents getting so busy that they are not recognizing a child in trouble? Perhaps they are in denial or just not paying attention to their children. School, too, are to blame when individuals in trouble are expelled rather than identified and helped. I've seen several articles about schools that send troubled kids to charter schools so their graduation rate stays high, rather than helping the students in trouble.  The charter schools don't seem to be helping these students either because many students do their school work online and no one pays much attention to them. 

Social media is terrible for the many students who spend a great deal of time online and their smartphones are their connection with the outside world. I would not allow any child of mine to constantly be on a smartphone. What about talking to your children, having family dinners, what about chores or doing things together? Has parenting turned into just feeding and clothing children? When I was in private pediatric practice, many kids would pretend to be ill just so they could come and talk to me. I still hear from patients I took care of many years ago. They are desperate for real communication and knowing an adult who cares. One of the reasons I sold my practice was I was either going to open a group home for the many lost kids I saw almost daily, adopt a bunch of them, or find an answer to their loneliness. 

Medical Care for College Students

Many parents have real concerns about letting their child or children go away to college. One of their fears is if the student becomes ill who will look after them. This is a very real concern, but there are ways to ensure your child will be safe. One way is to find an outside physician in the local community.The other is to teach your child what is acceptable and what is not acceptable in college medical care. When my daughter went to University of Colorado, I checked on the credentials of the health service doctors. I also found an outside internist she could see. She needed some medical advice, so made an appointment with the one doctor I  thought was the best. When she went for her appointment, she was told she would see a nurse practitioner. "No", Jennifer said, "My parents are both doctors and they researched Dr,. X. That is the doctor I want to see." Yes, she was taken to see Dr. X. 

One thing that is important to do when a child goes away to college is to check if he or she will be covered by your insurance. Some colleges require you have insurance under their specific health insurance. 

The child of a local doctor called me one day in San Francisco and told his daughter was very ill in Berkeley. She had seen someone at the local student health service who diagnosed tonsillitis and gave the girl antibiotics. She was alone in her dorm on a Friday night and was having a hard time swallowing. I got in my car and drove to the dorm in Berkeley. The girl had enormous tonsils and signs of infectious mononucleosis. I called an ambulance and arranged for her to be admitted to the local hospital. My diagnosis was correct and with good medical care the girl survived the night. Her big tonsils could have created a serious problem.

If a student has a chronic problem, such as asthma or diabetes, the health service should be  notified of this. An outside specialist would be particularly important  in this situation. 

Colleges and Students' Mental Health

I was delighted to see an article in today's New York Times  saying several colleges, including UCLA, are adding personnel to care for their students' mental health problems. This is long overdue. I hope some of the prestigious Eastern colleges will follow suit. Many parents these days are putting so much emphasis on their children going to prestigious colleges that I worry. I remember in my Stanford medical school class of 62 students that two of our class committed suicide. This is becoming more and more common in both undergraduate and medical school classes. What a tragedy to see the life  of bright, capable students end when mental health counselors should have been available. Sadly, as in the New York University case of suicide, the student was seen by a nurse practitioner in the health service and given medicine, but not referred to a physician, a psychologist, or a psychiatrist. 

Public schools in the past had a nurse on staff and some even had social workers. Now when a student is having  or creating problems, many schools simply get rid of the  student with no follow-up and no help. This is unforgivable. Several of the recent school and college  shootings have been by former students expelled from school with no help for their mental health problems. I have a long list of these. I wish we could  have an R.N. and social worker in every school, including charter and private schools. I think we would save many lives.