The suicide rate in the U.S. dropped by nearly 6 percent last year, the largest drop in four decades, despite blockades, deaths and other problems caused by the coronavirus pandemic, according to preliminary government data released by The Associated Press.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), fewer than 45,000 suicides have been reported in the past year, the lowest number of U.S. suicides since 2015.
The wire service notes that death certificates are still coming in, but officials expect the drop to last.
The number of suicides in the US peaked in 2018, according to AP the highest percentage since 1941. The 2018 number occurred after nearly two decades of an increasing suicide rate rising in the early 2000s.
A slight decrease in cases was recorded in 2019 due to increased mental health examinations, along with other suicide prevention methods.
The reason for the decline in 2020 is unclear, but one expert told the AP that it could be attributed to a common phenomenon seen in the early stages of natural disasters and wars.
“There’s a heroic phase in every disaster period, where we work together and send many messages of support that we are in this together,” Christine Moutier, chief medical officer of the American Suicide Prevention Foundation, told the outlet. “You saw it, at least in the early months of the pandemic.”
According to Moutier, the decrease could possibly also be attributed to the availability of telecom health services.
However, Moutier said she would like to see the demographic breakdown of suicides once reported by the CDC, saying it is possible that suicide did not decline among young people and young adults.
“It is possible that we will see the full mental health consequences of this pandemic later,” Moutier told the outlet.
The news comes days after a study published by the Medical Journal of Lancet Psychiatry found that one in three survivors of COVID-19 received diagnoses for psychological or neurological conditions six months after their infections.