The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on suicide ideation and suicide attempts in a sample of psychiatric inpatients

Abstract

There has been little research reported regarding both suicide ideation and suicide attempts during the COVID-19 pandemic and government lockdown restrictions in Italy, one of the countries most affected by the pandemic. We investigated whether the frequency of suicide ideation and suicide attempts differed between psychiatric patients admitted to a psychiatric unit before and during the COVID-19 pandemic and government lockdown restrictions. We also assessed psychiatric diagnosis, length of hospitalization, and types of admission. We collected data on 632 psychiatric patients admitted to a public psychiatric clinic. Patients were divided into two different groups according to their admission before or during the COVID-19 pandemic. Our results showed that only suicide attempts, but not suicide ideation, were more frequent in psychiatric patients admitted during the COVID-19 pandemic than before. Furthermore, mood disorder diagnoses were more frequent during the COVID-19 pandemic than before the pandemic. The types of admission and the mean length of hospitalization did not differ between the two groups. In conclusion the present study results adds consistent knowledge on the phenomenon of suicide during the challenging time of the pandemic, pointing to continuing effort in suicide prevention measures.

Mid-term psychiatric consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic: a 4 months observational study on emergency room admissions for psychiatric evaluation after the (first) lockdown period in Italy

“…Subsequently, accompanying the relaxation of national restrictions, the psychological discomfort caused by previous social constraints and the subsequent economic burden may have amplified or became more apparent [ 22 ]. This discomfort could also account for the significantly higher number of admissions for psychomotor agitation and suicidal ideation/self-harm/suicide attempt, a trend already observed during the lockdown period by numerous studies [ 6 , 10 , 13 – 15 ], including our previous work, though it did not reach statistical significance [ 7 ]. Our results are in line with a Swiss study with a similar methodology [ 24 ] and support the hypothesis of long-term impact of the lockdown [ 4 , 16 ].…”

Suicidal Ideation Trends and Associated Factors in Different Large Spanish Samples During the First Year of the COVID-19 Pandemic

“…7 However, prior data suggest that only suicide attempts, and not SI, were more common in psychiatric admissions during the COVID-19 pandemic than before. 8 The large increase in prevalence of both PSI You are prohibited from making this PDF publicly available.…”

Changes in Mental Health among Psychiatric Patients during the COVID-19 Pandemic in Hong Kong—A Cross-Sectional Study

“…For example, in a study by Favreau et al, more than 50% of recruited inpatients with mental disorders in Germany reported a general worsening of their symptomatology [41]. In the study by Berardelli et al, psychiatric patients admitted to a public psychiatric clinic reported more frequent suicide attempts, but not suicide ideation, during the COVID-19 pandemic than before [43]. The variation in patients' responses could be attributed by multiple factors-such as the severity, time of outbreak, and government measures against COVID-19, which differed across countries.…”

“…Patients also reported reduced quality of life in some studies [41,42]. On the other hand, reported changes in patients' psychiatric symptoms control varied among studies [41,43]. For example, in a study by Favreau et al, more than 50% of recruited inpatients with mental disorders in Germany reported a general worsening of their symptomatology [41].…”