Suicide rates during the pandemic

[PuzzledObserver]

It has been asserted many times on here that suicide rates have increased/will increase because of lockdown.

That's a reasonable assumption, because the impact of lockdown hon mental health has been profound.

However, initial evidence shows the assumption to be unfounded.

www.medscape.com/viewarticle/949590?src=wnl_newsalrt_uk_210420_MSCPEDIT&uac=51603FG&impID=3322501&faf=1

There is going to be a mental health crisis for many years to come - the system could not cope before Covid - I pray ' the system' gets the financial support it needs.

Yes, I remember hearing previously that they had actually dropped. It's counter-intuitive, isn't it?

I read elsewhere that a lot of people with MH issues (though by no means all) improved during lockdown, so that must have played a part.

@pushchairprincess

There is going to be a mental health crisis for many years to come - the system could not cope before Covid - I pray ' the system' gets the financial support it needs.

Agree 100%

I know of one person directly and a couple indirectly who committed suicide as a direct result of lockdowns. It was mainly lack of access to MH services - they were thrown under a bus basically, there's no sugar-coating it.
But I also know of people with fragile mental health who seem to have almost been better in lockdowns as there has been less pressure to go out and see people etc. So perhaps it has balanced out.

I know of several suicides, one mentioned in his note that it was due to the lockdown. I attempted myself during the lockdown last year. I was left alone with my thoughts with all my usual coping mechanisms taken away/illegal.

Many people with eating disorders relapsed during lockdown. Suicide rates are not the only indicator of the mental health of the nation. Calls to crisis lines/A&E should also be taken into account, and not just completed suicides. I recall a London ambulance service saying their call outs to suicide attempts had massively increased.

My friends mental health improved during lockdown one as there wasn’t pressure to mix with people anymore and it was ok to be in all the time. However lockdown over the winter she got worse, worse than before covid even started. She’s getting there now but o think in the end it just went on too long for her to bear.

I never thought that the suicide rate was going to jump massively straight away.

The effects will be felt a couple of years down the line, when the damage caused by lockdowns/job losses will take their toll and only then will the increase be seen. I really hope it doesn't happen but I can't see how it won't. Very few people were going to kill themselves immediately when we went into lockdown- it will be the cumulative effects over time that will cause it.

Inquest takes time to rule a suicide officially.

Anyone who thinks this won't impact suicide rates is deluded. It's only been a year and we don't have enough evidence yet but it's pretty obvious.

The Manchester study also only looks at completed suicides. They are not measuring attempts (or for that matter any other increase in mental health problems).
I work in frontline mental health - there is a clear crisis.

Inquests take ages to record suicides, as well as many suicides never actually get put down as suicide and are put down as misadventure, accidental overdoses ect for varying different reasons

I know suicides and attempts have been up in my area to my knowledge.

The local paper is just getting to reporting inquests from the last 10-12 months. The full picture is not clear yet.

The winter is more likely to have been problematic as the situation lingered on and further damage was done following the spring lockdown.

My great-grandfather killed himself due to the trauma of his WW2 experiences/ injuries... 20 years after it ended. It can take a long, long time for the damage to truely unfold.

Re the point about inquests - the study looked at suspected suicides:

"In England suspected suicides are notified to the coroner and a suicide conclusion is then determined at inquest-since 2018, on the balance of probabilities 10. Suspected suicides may not reach this standard of evidence. Official suicide statistics include some “narrative conclusions” and deaths from “undetermined” cause but not deaths judged at inquest to be accidental. The median time between a death and a suicide conclusion at inquest is 5,6 months 11; some cases take over a year. The official coronial process is therefore unsuitable as a means of immediate monitoring of suicide. As a result, some areas have set up “real time surveillance” (RTS) of suicide. Precise details of RTS may vary between areas but there are common features: recording of suspected suicides as they occur; identification of deaths by the police, coroners or both; and multidisciplinary review of data. RTS allows early detection of rising suicide rates and changing patterns of risk, and immediate support for bereaved families."

But I do agree that the MH impact of the pandemic will play out over years.

Media reports on the young man who was found in Epping Forest have gone quiet. Cause of death still not confirmed.

There's been NINETEEN deaths by suicide to date of people who have been prevented from working and then fallen through the cracks or government support - known as the Excluded.

People have lost businesses, homes, marriages, and consequently their lives.

So, so avoidable.

Opportunity I suspect has a lot to do with it.

It's something most people would do away from their family.

With not being able really to go anywhere, and people at home for many, the opportunity reduces.

The other effects of all this eg there's been a big increase in alcohol consumption in middle aged people (can be self medication) will also cause issues and may be longer term.

Many are loving this and many are struggling. I mean the lockdowns etc.

My 12 year old tried to commit suicide during the 3rd lockdown. It was a miracle that he survived really, he very nearly didn't. My 14 year old's friend lost his mum to suicide in lockdown 1.

There have been some suicides because of the pandemic, not the lockdown (although I agree that the Australian, New Zealand, East Asia approach was less hard on mental health than our repeated long lockdowns).

I don't know if any have happened here, but one poor man in North America killed himself after finding his long covid symptoms too unbearable.

Bereavement can trigger suicidal thoughts.

I've definitely read of a few suicides due to fear of catching covid and preferring what they hoped would be a less painful or at least quicker death.

I know lots of frontline NHS staff have been suffering trauma. A number of ICU nurses have been sectioned because of this. Don't know if there's been any suicides but it wouldn't be a surprise sadly.

Mental health services in the UK have been in a terrible state for years. Sadly lack of support and care is nothing new.

I don't suppose there's much political will to change it though? I mean... if risk of and actual suicide prompted action to prevent it, then we'd see an end to the housing crisis. Instead we have growing numbers at risk of being homeless - because of austerity, 30 years of benefit 'reform' including disablity 'assessments' condemned by the UN, right to buy still allowed in England, and government policies to prop up the bubble (help to buy, 95% mortgages, stamp duty holiday, etc).

@elliejjtiny Im so sorry to hear that.

There’s a group on social media for the 3 million self-employed people who haven’t had a single penny of help for a year (myself included, though I was lucky to still find some work, others in face-to-face services haven’t been able to). There have been several suicides in that group, tragically, which could have been avoided if there had been a more universal approach to grants.

I do wonder, more generally, if quite a lot of people who were suffering from MH problems before might use the new flexibility in asking to work from home more. Most people I know who have worked from home are going to ask their companies for even 1-2 days from home, and now it’s been shown to work, that could cut miserable commutes for millions.

I think it is too early to judge the impact of the pandemic on suicide. As a number of threads have pointed out, things such as agoraphobia may result, some have delayed shock or other impacts to trauma (if we can term the pandemic that), and then there will be the impact of delayed operations, people finding out illnesses later and so treatment is more invasive. And a few other factors no doubt.

I agree that it’s probably “balanced out” by people who’s MH has improved. I count myself as one of them. Pre lockdown I was trying to cope with a trauma that really wasn’t resolved. What I didn’t realise I needed was “time out”. My MH has improved significantly in the past year. That’s not to say I’m not ready now to get out and do a few more things. But I know now what I need to do in future when things get on top of me again.

Some fair points made about the study only recording successful attempts, plus the time delay to inquest, thank you.

There are also some whose MH has improved - I am one, I came off antidepressants in the Autumn of last year. But outnumbered by those whose MH has got worse.

My husband is a mental health support worker for jeveniles in crisis - he's definitely seen a rise in calls. However, I'm a police officer and calls in my district for suicides, self harm and high risk missing people have dropped. Only anecdotal of course.

*juveniles