Introduction There are few published empirical data on the effects of COVID‐19 on mental health, and until now, there is no large international study. Material and methods During the COVID-19 pandemic, an online questionnaire gathered data from 55,589 participants from 40 countries (64.85% females aged 35.80 ± 13.61; 34.05% males aged 34.90±13.29 and 1.10% other aged 31.64±13.15). Distress and probable depression were identified with the use of a previously developed cut-off and algorithm respectively. Statistical analysis Descriptive statistics were calculated. Chi-square tests, multiple forward stepwise linear regression analyses and Factorial Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) tested relations among variables. Results Probable depression was detected in 17.80% and distress in 16.71%. A significant percentage reported a deterioration in mental state, family dynamics and everyday lifestyle. Persons with a history of mental disorders had higher rates of current depression (31.82% vs. 13.07%). At least half of participants were accepting (at least to a moderate degree) a non-bizarre conspiracy. The highest Relative Risk (RR) to develop depression was associated with history of Bipolar disorder and self-harm/attempts (RR = 5.88). Suicidality was not increased in persons without a history of any mental disorder. Based on these results a model was developed. Conclusions The final model revealed multiple vulnerabilities and an interplay leading from simple anxiety to probable depression and suicidality through distress. This could be of practical utility since many of these factors are modifiable. Future research and interventions should specifically focus on them.

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In order to develop the “prevention of suicides” component of the state program on mental health protection of the Kyrgyz Republic population for 2017–2030 years, a suicide situation in the country over the past 10 years was investigated. During collecting, processing and statistical analysis of data from different sources, a significant discrepancy was revealed between them.According to the national statistics committee (NSC), in 2015 the level of prevalence of suicide was 6.93% per 100,000 of population, whereas, according to the information from the republican medical information center it was 4.82%. Over the last 10 years in the Kyrgyz Republic, a level of suicidal behavior among children, teenagers and young adults has still been rather high and 22.63% of suicide attempts were committed by persons aged between 18 and 22 years. A significant difference was revealed in the indexes of suicides among these age categories provided by NSC and the ministry of Inner affairs.Due to religious and national traditions, suicide is a very sensitive topic in Kyrgyzstan. In a lot of cases, death from suicide is not registered or is disguised as accidents and other causes of death, so the figures may be considered reliable.Thus, despite the relative standardization of suicides accounting by the separate departments, the further work is needed for coordination and harmonization of the data collection, as well as for development and implementation of inter-agency action plan to prevent suicides at the national level, taking into account the regional, cultural and ethnic characteristics.Disclosure of interestThe authors have not supplied their declaration of competing interest.

Introduction The current study aimed to investigate the rates of anxiety, clinical depression, and suicidality and their changes in health professionals during the COVID-19 outbreak. Extended author information available on the last page of the article Materials and methodsThe data came from the larger COMET-G study. The study sample includes 12,792 health professionals from 40 countries (62.40% women aged 39.76 ± 11.70; 36.81% men aged 35.91 ± 11.00 and 0.78% non-binary gender aged 35.15 ± 13.03). Distress and clinical depression were identified with the use of a previously developed cut-off and algorithm, respectively. Statistical analysis Descriptive statistics were calculated. Chi-square tests, multiple forward stepwise linear regression analyses, and Factorial Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) tested relations among variables. Results Clinical depression was detected in 13.16% with male doctors and 'non-binary genders' having the lowest rates (7.89 and 5.88% respectively) and 'non-binary gender' nurses and administrative staff had the highest (37.50%); distress was present in 15.19%. A significant percentage reported a deterioration in mental state, family dynamics, and everyday lifestyle. Persons with a history of mental disorders had higher rates of current depression (24.64% vs. 9.62%; p < 0.0001). Suicidal tendencies were at least doubled in terms of RASS scores. Approximately one-third of participants were accepting (at least to a moderate degree) a non-bizarre conspiracy. The highest Relative Risk (RR) to develop clinical depression was associated with a history of Bipolar disorder (RR = 4.23). Conclusions The current study reported findings in health care professionals similar in magnitude and quality to those reported earlier in the general population although rates of clinical depression, suicidal tendencies, and adherence to conspiracy theories were much lower. However, the general model of factors interplay seems to be the same and this could be of practical utility since many of these factors are modifiable.