The Impact of Infectious Disease-Related Public Health Emergencies on Suicide,                     Suicidal Behavior, and Suicidal Thoughts

Zortea, Tiago; Brenna, Connor T. A.; Joyce, Mary; McClelland, Heather; Tippett, Marisa; Tran, Maxwell; Arensman, Ella; Corcoran, Paul; Hatcher, Simon; Heise, Marnin J; Links, Paul S.; O’Connor, Rory C.; Edgar, Nicole; Cha, Yevin; Guaiana, Giuseppe; Williamson, Eileen; Sinyor, Mark; Platt, Stephen

doi:10.1027/0227-5910/a000753

Cited by 151 publications

(159 citation statements)

References 44 publications

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“…A shared sense of belonging and focus, social connectedness and a "pulling together effect" may be one such factor. [1,24] Limitations The study used the Swedish historical public death records and we had no means of verifying the causes of death. The coverage and precision of these records is likely to have improved over time for both variables.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Will the COVID-19 pandemic lead to a tsunami of suicides? A Swedish nationwide analysis of historical and 2020 data

Rück

Mataix‐Cols

Malki

et al. 2020

Preprint

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BackgroundVarious surveys have documented a negative impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the population’s mental health. There is widespread concern about a surge of suicides, but evidence supporting a link between global pandemics and suicide is very limited. Using historical data from the three major influenza pandemics of the 20th century, and recently released data from the first half of 2020, we aimed to investigate whether an association exists between influenza deaths and suicide deaths.MethodsAnnual data on influenza death rates and suicide rates were extracted from the Statistical Yearbook of Sweden from 1910-1978, covering the three 20th century pandemics, and from Statistics Sweden for the period from January to June of each year during 2000-2020. COVID-19 death data were available for the first half of 2020. We implemented non-linear autoregressive distributed lag (NARDL) models to explore if there is a short-term and/or long-term effect of increases and decreases in influenza death rates on suicide rates during 1910-1978. Analyses were done separately for men and women. Descriptive analyses were used for the available 2020 data.FindingsBetween 1910-1978, there was no evidence of either short-term or long-term significant associations between influenza death rates and changes in suicides. The same pattern emerged in separate analyses for men and women. Suicide rates in January-June 2020 revealed a slight decrease compared to the corresponding rates in January-June 2019 (relative decrease by −1.2% among men and −12.8% among women).InterpretationWe found no evidence of short or long-term association between influenza death rates and suicide death rates across three 20th century pandemics or during the first six months of 2020 (when the first wave of COVID-19 occurred). Concerns about a substantial increase of suicides may be exaggerated. The media should be cautious when reporting news about suicides during the current pandemic.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Will the COVID-19 pandemic lead to a tsunami of suicides? A Swedish nationwide analysis of historical and 2020 data

Rück

Mataix‐Cols

Malki

et al. 2020

Preprint

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…Future studies are needed to examine how restrictions affect individual risk factors for suicide. Some studies investigated the association between infectious diseases and suicide risk (Wasserman, 1992;Cheung et al, 2008;Chang et al, 2020;Leaune et al, 2020;Zortea et al, 2020). Two studies focused on the impact of severe acute respiratory syndrome on SR in Hong Kong and found higher SR in the elderly (Chan et al, 2006;Cheung et al, 2008).…”

Section: R2_2020mentioning

confidence: 99%

“…While some studies on previous epidemics found an increase in SR in particular age groups (Wasserman, 1992;Cheung et al, 2008;Chang et al, 2020;Leaune et al, 2020;Zortea et al, 2020), the evidence base for suicide risk during the COVID-19 pandemic is very limited (Niederkrotenthaler et al, 2020). An initial high-quality study showed no indications of an increase in SR in the early phase of the COVID-19 pandemic in Australia (Leske et al, 2020) and a study analysing state-level data from Connecticut found a higher proportion of ethnic minorities among suicide cases during the COVID-19 lock-down compared to preceding years (Mitchell and Li, 2020).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Trends in suicide rates during the COVID-19 pandemic restrictions in a major German city

Radeloff

Papsdorf

Uhlig³

et al. 2021

Epidemiol Psychiatr Sci

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Aims It remains unclear whether the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic is having an impact on suicide rates (SR). Economic insecurity and mental disorders are risk factors for suicide, which may increase during the pandemic. Methods Data on suicide events in a major city in Germany, and the corresponding life years (LY) were provided by the local authorities. For the year 2020, periods without restrictions on freedom of movement and social contact were compared with periods of moderate and severe COVID-19 restrictions. To avoid distortions due to seasonal fluctuations and linear time trends, suicide risk during the COVID-19 pandemic was compared with data from 2010 to 2019 using an interrupted time series analysis. Results A total of 643 suicides were registered and 6 032 690 LY were spent between 2010 and 2020. Of these, 53 suicides and 450 429 LY accounted for the year 2020. In 2020, SR (suicides per 100 000 LY) were lower in periods with severe COVID-19 restrictions (SR = 7.2, χ2 = 4.033, p = 0.045) compared with periods without restrictions (SR = 16.8). A comparison with previous years showed that this difference was caused by unusually high SR before the imposition of restrictions, while SR during the pandemic were within the trend corridor of previous years (expected suicides = 32.3, observed suicides = 35; IRR = 1.084, p = 0.682). Conclusions SR during COVID-19 pandemic are in line with the trend in previous years. Careful monitoring of SR in the further course of the COVID-19 crisis is urgently needed. The findings have regional reference and should not be over-generalised.

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“…This thesis has been confirmed by statistical data addressing the previous epidemics such as the Spanish Flu in 1918-1919 (Wasserman 1992) and partially SARS in 2003 (Yip, Cheung, Chau, et al 2010). Although, as Tiago Zortea, Connor Brenna, Mary Joyce et al (2020) claim, we cannot draw a firm conclusion regarding a direct relationship between epidemics and suicide-related outcomes, evidence suggests an impact of epidemics on the circumstances in which the risk of suicidal behaviors rises (Zortea, Brenna, Joyce et al 2020).…”

Section: Toxic Masculinity and Suicidal Crisis In The Context Of Pandmentioning

confidence: 66%

“…Recent research reports indicate that various socio-economic, psychological, and health-related impacts of the Covid-19 pandemic may heighten the risk of suicidal behaviors (Khan, Ratele, & Arendse 2020;Reger, Stanley, & Joiner 2020;Gunnell, Appleby, Arensman et al 2020). Uncertainties caused by the Covid-19 pandemic, along with global responses such as lockdowns, have heightened depression, anxiety, isolation, loneliness, financial concerns, the risk of job loss, anger, irritability, relationship conflicts, post-traumatic stress disorder, fears, and increased use of alcohol and nicotine (Zortea, Brenna, & Joyce 2020;Frąckowiak-Sochańska 2020). These factors intensify the risk of suicidal behaviors in people traditionally considered vulnerable and those who did not belong to the risk groups before the pandemic (Suicide Awareness Voices of Education 2020; Courtet, Olié, Debien et al 2020).…”

Section: Toxic Masculinity and Suicidal Crisis In The Context Of Pandmentioning

confidence: 99%

Men and Social Trauma of Covid-19 Pandemic. The Maladaptiveness of Toxic Masculinity

Frąckowiak-Sochańska

2021

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The first purpose of this paper is to analyze the direct and indirect, short- and long-term consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic for men. The second purpose is to identify the mechanisms underlying the present and predicted pandemic’s impact on men’s life and health (both somatic and mental). The author interprets the higher men's mortality due to coronavirus rates and the males' suicide rates that heightened from the beginning of the pandemic due to life-style that reflects the toxic masculinity norms. This paper's theoretical framework is determined by the social (cultural) trauma theory and the Critical Studies on Men and Masculinities. The method used for the present study is desk research based on the integrated literature review including the results of empirical research directly or indirectly addressing males’ experience of the COVID-19 pandemic from the years 2019 and 2020, the previous pandemics (SARS in 2002-2004 and Ebola in 2014), other social crises caused by economic and political processes, and research explaining men’s stress-related behaviors.

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The Impact of Infectious Disease-Related Public Health Emergencies on Suicide, Suicidal Behavior, and Suicidal Thoughts

Cited by 151 publications

References 44 publications

Will the COVID-19 pandemic lead to a tsunami of suicides? A Swedish nationwide analysis of historical and 2020 data

Will the COVID-19 pandemic lead to a tsunami of suicides? A Swedish nationwide analysis of historical and 2020 data

Trends in suicide rates during the COVID-19 pandemic restrictions in a major German city

Men and Social Trauma of Covid-19 Pandemic. The Maladaptiveness of Toxic Masculinity

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