Suicide

[Spiratedaway]

One of my friends killed them selves at the weekend and now another one last night both men ..... devastated ... covid is taking lives in every factor

So sorry for your loss, I have heard of several people attempting suicide and some that have succeeded (mostly men). More needs to be done but it’s so hard as men don’t often ask for help 😢.

It’s terrible. Both my DS 21 and dd 18 lost close peers to suicide within a few months last August to December. Both very young men too. This is the wider impact of Covid, of lockdown, of despair.

A friend of ours committed suicide a few years ago. About a month ago her son did the same, 25, already struggling before covid. It’s so sad.

Sorry for your loss l. I think the covid pandemic has certainly highlighted that there is a pre-existing mental health crisis under conditions of neo-liberal societies

How much longer can ppl take both left kids I can't stop crying

I really hope we as a society will choose to o invest in our health services and tackle the issues that so often exacerbate mental health issues - long working hours, unemployment, atomisation, poor health, society where we don't seek to support others etc

I am so ducking angry no one mentions it it is all covid covid covid

One of them was quite well know in reality tv so will be in the press soon I am sure 😢

We won’t know the 2020 figures until next year but I read London ambulance services said they have nearly double the suicide/self harms call outs in 2020 and that was in October. I dread to think of it now. If you dare mention the cost of Covid you are called selfish. I care about the damage of self isolation, mental health, missed cancer diagnosis, rise in domestic abuse and child abuse. Lockdown as a cure is worse than the disease. People dying at home is up massively compared to last year but as long as it is not Covid...

Gosh that's so sad.

I think it's coming up to the anniversary of Caroline Flack' death v soon.

People ARE talking about it. But there are also media guidelines which have to be followed when reporting on suicide, because unfortunately it can be dangerous for vulnerable people to hear about successful attempts. www.samaritans.org/about-samaritans/media-guidelines/media-guidelines-reporting-suicide/

Oh and sorry for your loss

OP I am so sorry. I, personally, know of three suicides during lockdown 1. Was discussing this with a friend just before Christmas and she told me that two of her former colleagues had committed suicide after being made redundant (they worked for a major airline). Both left kids. It’s so awful.

Reality TV has a lot to answer for, alongside Covid. Reality TV stars thrive on bring ‘influencers’ & showing off their idealistic lives, full of holidays & trips & meals out & private planes & fancy cars. Suddenly it all stopped & they are all stuck at home. Some made it to Dubai I suppose. It’s all fake & must be soul destroying & lonely. And this must have really shaken the core of their entire lives.

I’m so sorry for your losses OP. It’s so frogging sad.

[quote stroopwafelgirl]People ARE talking about it. But there are also media guidelines which have to be followed when reporting on suicide, because unfortunately it can be dangerous for vulnerable people to hear about successful attempts. www.samaritans.org/about-samaritans/media-guidelines/media-guidelines-reporting-suicide/[/quote]
They obviously are not if people are killing themselves

@Nousernamesleftatall

We won’t know the 2020 figures until next year but I read London ambulance services said they have nearly double the suicide/self harms call outs in 2020 and that was in October. I dread to think of it now. If you dare mention the cost of Covid you are called selfish. I care about the damage of self isolation, mental health, missed cancer diagnosis, rise in domestic abuse and child abuse. Lockdown as a cure is worse than the disease. People dying at home is up massively compared to last year but as long as it is not Covid...

Re suicide as "the cost of covid", that's not selfish, so much as anecdotal.

www.bmj.com/content/371/bmj.m4352

"Supposition, however, is no replacement for evidence. "

"a reasonably consistent picture is beginning to emerge from high income countries. Reports suggest either no rise in suicide rates (Massachusetts, USA11; Victoria, Australia13; England14) or a fall (Japan,9 Norway15) in the early months of the pandemic. "

This is from a major UK expert on suicide, Louis Appleby.

"We examined suicide figures from established "real-time surveillance" (RTS) systems in several parts of England, total population 9 million, comparing the months pre-lockdown (January-March 2020) to postlockdown (April-August 2020). The average number of suicides per month varied but there was no evidence of a rise post-lockdown. "

documents.manchester.ac.uk/display.aspx?DocID=51861

I'm sure there will be further analysis of the figures as time goes by, especially the effect on children and adolescents.

I'm so sorry for your losses, OP.

Mental health and suicides are being talked about, but often those who really need help aren't able to get support or ask for help, and often it comes too late to them. It isn't good enough but it's as good as it's going to get for now.

Do you have real life support and access to mental health services yourself? Do you know how to access them if you need support? We're here if you'd like to talk about your friends or if you need support.

It absolutely is horrendous and the cost of Covid will be immense. But suicide has been an issue for many years with severe underfunding to mental health services. They couldn’t cope in normal times so there wouldn’t be enough to support now. 7 years ago I had PND, I was suicidal and told my GP my plans including that I had the pills I needed and had a backup anyway, I was referred to be seen by the crisis team and out back on a 3 month waiting list for talking therapies because I didn’t have a date in mind of when I was going to
Kill myself. As it happened 4 days later something triggered me and I took an overdose, thankfully I went to A&E in time and my children still have their mother. These people have always been let down and even more so due to Covid and we must ensure things change.
I am so sorry for your loss, I hope you’re friends are at peace but understand it must be horrendous for those left behind.

@Spiratedaway

I am so ducking angry no one mentions it it is all covid covid covid

I’m really sorry you’ve lost your friends to such horrible circumstances; I’ve lost more people than I would have imagined this past year to various circumstance.

However, tens of thousands of people have lost their lives to covid and that’s a really hurtful statement to digest for some of those affected. It’s not a competition. Death and grief is awful regardless of how it came about.

Heartbreaking isn’t it. A child in my sons class lost his mum to suicide at the beginning of December. She suffered terribly with her mental health and lockdown made it worse. She was unable to get the help she needed due to covid. The child only had his mum (no dad ever been involved). Every time I think of him I cry my eyes out and hug my son a little tighter.

A close relative also lost their best friend to suicide last October. A single man without family.

So sad. Hope you are ok @Spiratedaway

It is truly dreadful all round, with no easy answers.

I have lost 2 people since the weekend that o know would still be here ... they could not take the lockdown and MSM make it worse ... as I said covid is bad but covid is cause other deaths not directly too I am just heartbroken

@herecomesthsun

The London ambulance service stated it on TV that calls were nearly double.

If you think suicides are likely to be the same or less than last year than I don’t really know what to say to you.

April to August is one matter. September to now completely different.

You mentioned Japan figures until August and then there is this:

In October suicides among women were up 83% on 2019. More people died of suicide than Covid.
www.google.ie/amp/s/amp.cnn.com/cnn/2020/11/28/asia/japan-suicide-women-covid-dst-intl-hnk/index.html

We won’t know the real suicides numbers for 2020 for another few months.

Anyway don’t want to derail your thread op.

@Spiratedaway

I am so ducking angry no one mentions it it is all covid covid covid

Agreed. Those who don’t mind lockdowns have happy families and no money worries. So many people are furloughed and not on a lot of money. Others have completely lost their jobs. So many people live alone or live in abusive households.

Covid19 isn’t killing healthy people in their teens-50s. It is depression.