- Early data show that suicide rates fell by almost 6% in 2020 – the largest annual decline in four decades.
- Telehealth visits and the camaraderie in the early days of the pandemic may have contributed to the trend.
- Experts say people may suffer from mental health problems long after the pandemic.
- Visit Insider’s homepage for more stories.
Suicide rates dropped in 2020 and reached a new low for the first time since 2015, and experts were surprised.
Early government data shows that suicides dropped by almost 6% in 2020 compared to the previous year, which is the largest annual drop in four decades. Suicide has been the 10th leading cause of death in the US for years, but the combination of COVID-19 and fewer suicide deaths has now made it 11th on the list.
It is unclear why suicides were less common in a pandemic year, but experts believe the early days of COVID-19 brought out a sense of solidarity as we see during war or a hurricane.
“There is a heroic phase in every disaster period, where we work together and express many messages of support that we are together in this,” said Dr. Christine Moutier, Chief Medical Officer of the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention, to Associated Press. “You saw it, at least in the early months of the pandemic.”
Moutier said the increase in
telehealth
services may also have contributed to it.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention did not publish the national suicide rate in 2020. Although death certificates are still popping up, officials suspect the decline will remain the same.
People may be suffering from mental health problems after the pandemic
Throughout the pandemic, isolation, job loss, and stress caused an increase in depression and anxiety, and untreated therapy needs increased.
These mental health trends have led researchers to speculate whether there will be more suicides in the pandemic, but the latest data show that so far there has been no increase.
Once we are back to relative “normalcy”, according to Moutier, people may suffer from mental health problems long after the pandemic because they may have lost a person or life experience.
“There is an evolution of mental health,” she said. “It is possible that we will see the consequences of the mental health of this pandemic”.