No evidence of increase in suicide in Greece during the first wave of Covid-19

Abstract

Background and ObjectiveMental health outcomes have reportedly worsened in several countries during the Covid-19 pandemic and associated lockdowns. In the present study we examined whether suicides increased in Greece during the first wave of the pandemic.MethodsWe used daily suicide estimates from a Suicide Observatory in Greece from 2015-2020 and followed three methodologies: A descriptive approach, an interrupted time series analysis, and a differences-in-differences econometric model.ResultsWe did not find any empirical evidence of any increase in suicides during the first wave of Covid-19 and the lockdown in any of the three approaches used.ConclusionsSuicides did not seem to increase during the first wave of covid-19 and lockdown in Greece. However, this does not mean that mental health did not deteriorate, or that we will not observe an increase in suicides during the second wave. Protective factors for Greece during the first wave may include working from home (for those able to tele-work), strong family ties, advertising of a suicide hotline and income support for the unemployed.

Suicide during the COVID-19 pandemic in Japan

“…Immediately after the COVID-19 outbreak (February to June 2020), however, we find a notable reduction in suicide rates, particularly during the state of emergency (IRR: 0.88, 95% CI: 0.85 to 0.92). The finding might have been unexpected, yet is consistent with the emerging studies and statistics which find that suicide deaths decreased in Norway 30 , the UK 42 , Germany 27 and Peru 43 , and did not change in Greece 31 , Massachusetts (US) 25 , Victoria (Australia) 44 , and China (outside Wuhan) 45 (Suicide deaths in Nepal increased 29 ), when these countries were placed under strict lockdowns. Also, existing studies often report a drop followed by a delayed increase in suicide rates after national disasters, including Hurricane Katrina in 2005 or the 9/11 terrorist attack in 2001.…”

“…3a3∼e3). These make the point that the time-series analysis, which compares national suicide trends, could easily generate biased estimates 25-27,29-31,37 . Instead, accurate estimation requires a quasi-experimental research design and harmonised data, by defining reasonable location-specific control conditions (counterfactual without the pandemic).…”

“…However, existing studies use readily available and convenient data that could easily generate biased insights; many studies rely on some measures of suicidality rather than suicide mortality 19-24 and most of them compare suicidal behaviours using snapshot data during the pandemic without pre-pandemic baseline samples 19,20,22,23 . Even when studies use real suicide mortality, some rely on data that cover non-representative sub-samples 25-27 , while others compare the whole suicide or suicidality trend before and during the pandemic, which might capture common time trend, seasonality, or temporal time shocks across individuals 25-31 (we discuss why these time-series analysis and before-after comparison can be problematic in the Method section).…”

“…Other social factors, such as occupation, overwork 31 , marital status, and social support 32 , are reported as factors of suicide among the Japanese population.…”

Covid-19, Lockdowns and Motor Vehicle Collisions: Empirical Evidence from Greece

“…I found that during March and April 2020, there were about 1,226 fewer collisions Extending the study period until August suggests that during the entire study period there was a total reduction by 2,232 collisions, 165 deaths, 127 serious injuries, and 2,716 minor injuries.Results of this study are particular to the first wave of the pandemic in Greece, which saw a relatively small number of coronavirus cases and deaths, and there was little evidence of effects on other outcomes (e.g. there was no reported increase in suicides 28. Results are not necessarily generalisable to other countries that have different types of restrictions (if any) or the second wave in Greece, where the number of cases, hospitalisations and deaths was much larger than the first wave.…”