Adolescent girls are overrepresented among drug poisoning patients treated in emergency rooms.
Young drug poisonings have increased drastically in the last ten years, informs Hus. Drug poisonings among children and young people have more than doubled in ten years.
There were 148 drug poisonings in 2013, while last year the number was more than double: 377. According to Hus, the increase indicates increased nausea among young girls.
“Panadol is a typical cause of poisoning,” says HUS's head of child psychiatry, senior physician Leena Repokari.
The active ingredient of Panadol is paracetamol.
“Young people often take ordinary over-the-counter medicines that can be found at home. For example, when you eat too much paracetamol, it causes liver damage.”
emergency visits the number of poisonings has also clearly increased among people over 10 years old.
Adolescent girls are overrepresented among drug poisoning patients treated in emergency rooms. Unlike in young children, drug poisonings in adolescents are self-inflicted and intentional.
According to Hus, ten years ago, children's poisoning visits to the emergency room were mostly accidental and accidental poisonings of small children under the age of 10. After the years 2017–2018, the situation has changed: poisonings have shifted to young people, and damage has shifted to intentional ones.
The increase in drug poisoning is a national trend that pediatricians at university hospitals have paid attention to. According to doctors, drug overdose in young people under the age of 16 is “an extreme form of nausea”.
Young girls' nausea can also be seen in THL's School Health Surveys.
Self-reported anxiety among girls in high schools, vocational schools, and 8th and 9th grades has increased during the years 2013–2023.
About a third of girls reported that they felt their health was average or bad, while about 15 percent of boys of the same age had a similar experience. The increase in the feeling of loneliness experienced by young girls is more visible than boys. The girls also feel that the conversation connection with their parents has weakened.
The background of the situation is a complex tangle of different issues, according to the pediatricians of the university hospitals.
Young people's lives have changed drastically in a short time. Family size has decreased, schooling is digitized, and young people's own communities have moved to electronic platforms, where choices are guided by harmful algorithms.
TikTok has also brought the challenges and medicine tips related to suicidal behavior to young people. The corona pandemic and Russia's war of aggression in Ukraine have affected the well-being of young people.
“Children and young people experience a lot of loneliness. Social networks have relaxed”, says Leena Repokari.
“The amount of face-to-face interaction has decreased. The screen does not replace the comforting and supportive presence of another person.”
He emphasizes that the journey of a sick child or young person from idea to action has been shortened due to social media.
“With the help of 'tips' served by social media algorithms, a young person can end up trying something very questionable in order to improve their well-being. The situation is accentuated with impulsive young people.”
Read more: “Every death is too much” – Exhaustion and depression also lead young people in top shape to deep waters
Read more: Dissertation: The workload of the school can be seen in the use of antipsychotics by children and adolescents
Read more: “I often just want to hug these young girls who come to the clinic” – A stressful lifestyle causes more and more menstrual disorders for young people
Read more: 14-year-old Iida was taken in a police convoy to the psychiatric ward – Then began the series of events that tell about Hus's deep problems
#Young #Hus #Drug #poisonings #among #young #people #increased #drastically
