Suicide-related emergency room visits among U.S. children surged 74% between 2016 and 2022, according to a study led by Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine researchers.

The research, published in the Annals of Emergency Medicine, analyzed more than 5 million pediatric mental health ER visits nationwide. Dr. Audrey Brewer, assistant professor of advanced pediatrics and primary care at Feinberg and a pediatrician at Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children's Hospital of Chicago, led the study. Dr. Jennifer Hoffmann, assistant professor of pediatric emergency medicine and medical social sciences at Feinberg and a physician at Lurie Children's, co-authored it.

The findings carry weight for Evanston-area families. A November 2025 Cook County Department of Public Health report found that suburban Cook County logged 40 mental health ER visits per 1,000 residents between 2020 and 2022. Most people in the county accessed crisis care through 911 or emergency departments rather than the 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline.

The study examined ER visits by children ages 5 to 17 with a primary mental health diagnosis, using the federal Nationwide Emergency Department Sample database. Researchers found that about half of all suicide-related visits occurred at hospitals seeing fewer than 10,000 pediatric patients per year. At the lowest-volume ERs, close to 30% of children with mental health conditions were transferred to other hospitals for care.

"Transfer to another hospital for pediatric mental health care often means a prolonged wait in the ED, sometimes lasting days, increasing the burden on children and their families," Hoffmann said in a Northwestern news release.

Overall, pediatric mental health ER visits rose 24% during the six-year period. Suicide or self-injury accounted for 24% of all pediatric mental health diagnoses in the data.

Depressive disorders made up 23%.

The study also found disparities in who ends up at lower-volume ERs. Indigenous children were more likely to visit those facilities, as were youth with substance use concerns.

Brewer called for equipping all emergency departments with pediatric mental health professionals, either on-site or through telehealth, and for universal suicide screening of children regardless of why they come to the ER. She also said interventions need to be developed and tested for children of color, noting that many existing approaches have not been studied in diverse populations. The National Institutes of Health funded the research.

If you are having suicidal thoughts, call or text 988 to reach the 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline.