Significant Increase in Deliberate Self-Poisonings Among Adolescents During the Second Year of the COVID-19 Pandemic

Purpose: The COVID-19 pandemic has been associated with a decline in mental health of adolescents. The aim of this study was to analyze the rate of deliberate self-poisonings (DSPs) among adolescents reported to the Dutch Poisons Information Center before and during the COVID-19 pandemic. Methods: A retrospective study from 2016 until 2021 was performed to characterize DSPs among adolescents, and to analyze trends in the number of DSPs. All DSPs among adolescents with the age of 13 up to and including 17 years were included. DSP characteristics included: age, gender, bodyweight, used substance, dose, and treatment advice. Trends in the number of DSPs were analyzed using time series decomposition and Seasonal Autoregressive Integrated Moving Average 2016 until December 31st 2021. Females were involved in 84% of adolescent DSPs. A strong inibuprofen, methylphenidate, fluoxetine, and quetiapine. The contribution of paracetamol rose from Discussion: The strong increase in the number of DSPs during the second year of the COVID-19 school closures may enhance self-harm behavior among adolescents, especially among younger access article under the CC BY license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).