No increase in deaths by suicide in Cork during pandemic, research finds

Prof Ella Arensman said the pandemic had undoubtedly had an impact on public mental health and there would be a need to ensure adequate access to support services as time progresses.

New data has found no significant increase in either deaths by suicide in Co Cork last year, or in self-harming presentations to hospitals nationally for the first 10 months of 2020.

Briefing papers published by the National Suicide Research Foundation (NSRF) carried the provisional data, which showed 40 deaths by suicide in Co Cork in 2020 and slightly lower overall rates of self-harm presentations to 18 hospitals around the country between January and October.

However, Prof Ella Arensman of the NSRF warned that the situation regarding the third lockdown, which came into place since Christmas, may show changes to this pattern, once equivalent data becomes available.

The suicide data is made available by Cork County Coroners in real-time for inclusion in the NSRF's Suicide and Self-Harm Observatory. 

Across the two-year period, 93 people died by suicide, 53 of whom died in 2019. 

Similar real-time systems in other countries, such as in Australia, have shown initial figures tend to accurate when compared to final data, Prof Arensman said.

However, she stressed that the pandemic had undoubtedly had an impact on public mental health and there would be a need to ensure adequate access to support services for people — including frontline healthcare workers and those who have lost loved ones during the pandemic — as time progresses.

"The gender ratio of deaths by suspected suicide was consistent overall, with men accounting for four of every five deaths by suspected suicide during both years of observation," the briefing paper said. 

"The high-risk age bracket of 45-49 years-old remained unchanged across both years. In 2020, half of all deaths by suspected suicide in County Cork took place at the home residence of the individual (50%), a reduction from 2019 (59%)."

A separate report last week, which included input from Ireland, showed no rise in suicide in richer countries during the first six months of the pandemic, although Prof Arensman said there had been a rise in Japan since October, and one which appeared to involve more women.

Prof Arensman, recently appointed as the country's first professor of public mental health, said mental health had been impacted by the pandemic and added: "I would have concerns with how long people's resilience can be stretched, particularly people with pre-existing mental health vulnerabilities."

According to the new self-harm data, the pandemic and associated measures have led to an increase in individual and population-level risk factors for self-harm and suicide. 

It shows that the presentation rate at 18 hospitals around the country fell by 11% in March 2020, then returned to typical levels over the summer, before falling by 11% again in October as the second wave hit its peak.

The National Self Harm Registry recorded a total of 6,219 self-harm presentations to the 18 hospitals during January to October 2020, equivalent to 20.4 self-harm presentations per day, which was 4% lower during these months in 2020 compared to 2018-2019.

Dr Mary Joyce of the Self-Harm Registry said work was continuing to check the profiles of those who presented last year to gauge any changes.

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