Every medicine found in the home takes young girls to the hospital: “Explosive” change – 2024-03-28 20:58:33

The number of drug poisonings among young people has more than doubled in ten years. Drug poisonings among young people are increasingly self-inflicted and intentional.

Girls are overrepresented among drug poisoning patients treated in emergency rooms.

Young girls experience loneliness more often than boys. The girls also feel that the conversation connection with their parents has weakened.

– Parenthood is pretty much lost, says TYKS Children’s and Adolescent Clinic’s area director, senior physician Heikki Lukkarinen.

According to Lukkarinen, even girls under the age of 12 are brought to the emergency room due to drug poisoning.

The drug most commonly associated with drug poisoning in young people is paracetamol. Other drugs can also be involved in poisoning.

The world has changed rapidly, and that change affects young people. Riitta Heiskanen

The youth’s emergency cry

Paracetamol is a common drug that can be found in many homes. Paracetamol is a safe drug when taken according to the instructions, but in too high doses it can be life-threatening.

After a paracetamol overdose, the patient may even end up in the organ transplant queue.

According to the school health survey of the Institute of Health and Welfare (THL), every third girl experiences anxiety.

According to Lukkarinen, drug poisonings among young people reported by emergency rooms are only the tip of the iceberg.

– It depends on luck, what happens if you take too much paracetamol.

– The anxiety of young people has grown explosively. It’s a cry for help, Lukkarinen states.

According to Husi’s press release, in 2013 there were 148 drug poisonings among young people during the year, and in 2023 the number was 377.

Drastic changes

Many reasons can be found for the huge increase in nausea among young people. According to Husi’s press release, life has changed drastically in a short time.

According to the release, TikTok has brought the challenges and medication tips related to suicidal behavior to young people. Algorithms control content according to their own logic.

The corona pandemic and Russia’s war of aggression in Ukraine have affected the well-being of young people.

Parents’ pressures in working life are reflected in everyday life and schooling has been digitized. The ideas about the self-direction of children and young people have also been overemphasized.

According to Lukkarinen, for example, the brain development of a sixth-grade boy is at a stage where he cannot be expected to be highly self-directed.

In Husi’s press release, Lukkarinen, together with four other doctors, calls for social means to influence the fact that material and practices harmful to children and young people are not spread freely on social media.

Don’t be put off by the grunt!

Social media is addictive, but it can be used in everyday family life.

– If a parent is on a cell phone for five hours every day, it’s no wonder that it has an effect on the children, says Lukkarinen.

For family holidays and weekends together, Lukkarinen gives concrete advice.

– Put away your cell phones and do something nice together, like going out!

– Even if the teenager hiding in his hoodie may grumble at first, after 15 minutes he can already start talking, Lukkarinen encourages.

Lukkarinen emphasizes that organizing mental health services for children and young people is a value choice.

If you need conversational support, you or someone close to you has suicidal thoughts, you can find organizations offering help at the back of this link.