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

@safeornotsafe I don't see why we can't balance needs. Most services I work in are moving towards a blended model of virtual and in-person, which seems reasonable to me. Previously I'd argue the resistance to doing online support was every bit as inaccessible as insisting that everything must be done online. I have many clinically vulnerable patients who don't want to come in person just yet and that's fine.

However, if fear of Covid is preventing you from escaping a different kind of unsafe situation, then maybe there is some value in discussing whether it is proportionate to fear Covid so much that you may be at risk in other ways. It's always a case by case basis - or should be, anyway.

It’s not so much that people don’t care as that, well, we did have lockdowns. So your needs were catered for and your MH didn’t worsen, thankfully. It’s awful that that’s what it took for the type of service you needed to become available.