[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 162 (2016), Part 10]
[House]
[Page 13706]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                     SUICIDE AFFECTS YOUNG CHILDREN

  (Mr. MURPHY of Pennsylvania asked and was given permission to address 
the House for 1 minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. MURPHY of Pennsylvania. Mr. Speaker, The Journal of Pediatrics 
recently reported many preteen children are at risk for suicide. 
Previously, it was believed that young children were incapable of 
suicide because they can't feel as hopeless or didn't have an 
understanding about death.
  Yet, in the United States, children as young as 5 years old die by 
suicide. According to the study, most of these suicide victims had a 
mental health problem. For younger children, suicide was associated 
with attention deficit disorder, and for older kids, depression. Both 
are treatable but must be diagnosed and treated right.
  But today, for every 2,000 children with a mental health disorder, 
only one child psychiatrist is available. Over 70 percent of 
psychotropic medications are prescribed by nonpsychiatrists, and 90 
percent of psychiatric medications for children are prescribed off 
label.
  The Helping Families in Mental Health Crisis Act addresses this grave 
reality head-on by increasing the number of child psychiatrists in our 
Nation. As lawmakers, it is our duty to protect our Nation's future 
generations.
  As the Senate continues to sit on H.R. 2646, I hope they keep in mind 
our children and our grandchildren. Please do not leave town before 
passage of H.R. 2646. We can save lives, but, to do so, we must pass 
this law. Our children need help and hope.

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