Social withdrawal in children, teens may signal higher risk of suicide later in life - study

Researchers have found that social withdrawal and physical discomfort such as headaches, nausea or abdominal pain during adolescence may increase the risk of suicidal thoughts by age 16.

The findings were published in the journal JAMA Network Open.

In the new study, Japanese experts examined data from more than 2,700 teenagers. Their parents answered questionnaires about their child's mental and behavioral symptoms at ages 10, 12 and 16.

The presence of suicidal ideation was determined by answering "yes" or "somewhat yes" to the question, "Do you currently believe you should not be alive?" among adolescents aged 16.

The study found that participants who experienced social withdrawal and somatic symptoms between the ages of 10 and 12 were about two to three times more likely to have suicidal thoughts at age 16.

"As human beings, we are programmed for social connection," noted Dr. Christopher Willard, an assistant professor of psychiatry at Harvard Medical School in Boston. - When it's neutral or positive, it lifts us up, it helps our mental health, it helps us have something worth living for. It gives us perspective."

Social isolation by choice tends to be more troubling than isolation due to alienation from other children, Willard noted.

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