Suicide prevention in the covid-19 era

Abstract

The COVID-19 pandemic is affecting the health of people all around the world including mental health as social isolation which has been one of the best infection mitigation efforts is strongly associated with anxiety, depression, self-harm and suicide attempts. These feelings are consistent with past pandemics where there was loss of routine and sociability. Suicidality has been on the rise in the United States and it is within this context that the pandemic has struck. With the risk of suicide being increased, preventative measures need to be implemented at the universal, selective and indicated levels. Universal suicide prevention is needed for the population as a whole regardless of their risk of suicide. Selective prevention is for subgroups at an increased risk and lastly indicated prevention corresponds to people at a very high risk, for example those with recent suicide attempts. Telemedicine, informative and responsible media, as well as monetary help from governments, banks and other major institutions can all help with suicide prevention in these during the pandemic. These resources can broadly help the population at large, but more targeted approaches will be needed for high risk individuals including those with psychiatric diagnoses, COVID-19 survivors, frontline healthcare workers and the elderly. Additionally, those with recent suicide attempts should warrant even more attention.

The Potential Impact of Adjunct Digital Tools and Technology to Help Distressed and Suicidal Men: An Integrative Review

“…A clinical trial found telepractice to be as feasible as traditional in-office clinical care delivery if there is accordance with safety plans, training, and published guidelines ( Luxton et al, 2014 ). Telehealth was deemed as useful in continued psychiatric care during the COVID-19 pandemic especially for postvention ( Rothman and Sher, 2021 ). A systematic review and random-effects meta-analyses of brief contact interventions (letter, postcard, telephone, green card or crisis card) for reducing self-harm, suicide attempt, and suicide recommended well-designed trials in clinical populations ( Milner et al, 2015 ).…”

Mental health and the COVID-19 pandemic

“…The COVID-19 pandemic is also responsible for increased consumption of stimulants, including alcohol (Calina et al, 2021) and drugs (Dubey et al, 2020). In addition, an increased risk of suicide in the population was noted during this period and an increase in suicide rates was reported as a negative impact of the quarantine (Rothman, Sher, 2021).…”

Resilience and Wellbeing Strategies for Pandemic Fatigue in Times of Covid-19

“…The tendency to focus on the worst feared outcomes of suicidality can overshadow findings that compared to before the pandemic, the demographics and reasons behind suicidality have shifted. Specifically, it has been found that women, male youth, single parents, the elderly, and those without previous psychopathology have been at growing risk for suicidality (Dubé et al, 2021;Kim et al, 2022;Rothman & Sher, 2021). This demonstrates that beyond the need for a multidisciplinary understanding of suicide trends at a broader level, interventions and strategies should be tailored to the demographics with the highest risk of suicidality (Holmes et al, 2020).…”