UCC study finds no increase in suicides during pandemic

Despite concerns over potential negative implications of the pandemic such as domestic violence, mental health issues and financial burdens, all which may directly act as suicide risk-factors, these have been combatted by a range of positive factors which arose during the same time period. File picture

A range of supports measures put in place by governments during the pandemic stopped an increase in suicides, research from UCC has found.

Economic support provided to mitigate temporary business closures and the strengthening of community and family bonds throughout the pandemic acted as important factors in combatting the risk of suicide during the worst of covid-19.

The study, published by researchers in the School of Public Health at UCC, and the National Suicide Research Foundation, has shown there was no increase in suicide rates in the first months of the pandemic, despite concerns over potential mental health issues.

The investigation highlighted the need for longer-term studies to monitor suicide trends in the post-pandemic world, after reviewing data from more than 25 countries, across four of the six World Health Organization regions.

It found there was no increase in suicide rates between two time periods taken from both before and during covid-19.

The pooled suicide rate throughout the studied period in February 2020, before the pandemic, was 11.38 per 100,000. This rate decreased slightly in comparison to the pooled suicide rate observed in the period during the pandemic, from March 2020 to June 2021, which was 10.65 per 100,000.

Despite concerns over potential negative implications of the pandemic such as domestic violence, mental health issues, and financial burdens, all of which may directly act as suicide risk factors, these have been combatted by a range of positive factors which arose during the same time period.

Monitoring suicide trends within a post-pandemic world is imperative to inform professionals on adequate suicide prevention and support, the study suggests.

National Suicide Research Foundation chief executive Dr Eve Griffin said the results came as no surprise, following the same trend as previous data published on the topic.

“It was very important for us as researchers during the course of the pandemic to try and provide advice around some of the narrative that was happening in terms of predicting a suicide epidemic,” she said. “It's really important not to feed into that kind of narrative."

Despite these results, Dr Griffin said there was an increase in the number of people experiencing mental stress throughout the pandemic, and particularly among those who were affected by covid-19 themselves.

For the majority of cases, “that didn't translate, thankfully, into death by suicide”, she added.

Although Ireland was not included in any of the chosen countries to study, recent research published in the Irish Psychological Journal by colleagues from the West of Ireland, had "similar findings" in terms of the suicide trends.

Dr Ana Paula da Cunha Varella from the School of Public Health at UCC, and lead researcher of the study, said the research was effective in shedding light on mental health outcomes during crises, while also emphasising the “critical need for improved suicide data reporting”.

"Enhanced surveillance systems, including real-time monitoring, are essential to better understand the impact of preventive efforts and to guide more effective strategies for suicide prevention," she said.