A recent study out of Boston Children’s Hospital reported an alarming statistic: Between July and October of last year, the hospital saw a 47% increase in adolescents being hospitalized for suicide attempts and suicide ideation over the previous year.

As a pediatrician, this statistic is difficult to stomach but not difficult to believe. The pandemic has taken a huge toll on our kids and their mental health. Since May is Mental Health Awareness Month, I wanted to bring attention to this dire need.

According to this interview on “All Things Considered,” social isolation, failing grades, food insecurity, and loss of loved ones to COVID have all contributed to this rise in suicide attempts and ideation. But it’s not just the lack of social interaction or the difficulty in online school that’s a contributing factor but rather the way these factors affect children during a crucial time of identity formation.

 As Dr. Elizabeth Pinsky, pediatric psychiatrist at Massachusetts General Hospital, says:

You think about the young people you know — the adolescents you know — who are going through the process that is completely normal and very important, of separating from their families and developing an identity outside of that … Those…