The COVID-19 pandemic suicide epidemic never happened: study

Two years ago, scientists thought that declining mental health would be the worrying trend to follow the COVID-19 pandemic.

And, by all accounts, it was: Parents drank more, kids worried more and teens became angstier than ever. According to the World Health Organization, mental health declined sharply beginning in 2020 as reports of anxiety and depression rose by 25%.

Yet, new research has revealed that the dire emotional outcomes of the pandemic — loneliness, fear and loss — did not lead to more suicides.

It may come as heartening news following more than two years of isolation, illness and the untimely deaths of more than 6.3 million people globally — including 1 million in the US.

The study on suicide and self-harm during the height of COVID-19 was published by in the journal PLOS Global Public Health, and focused on low- and middle-income countries as studied on high-income nations had already provided similar results.

“The most robust evidence, from time-series studies, indicated either a reduction or no change in suicide and self-harm in low- and middle-income countries following the pandemic,” said professor Jason Bantjes, of Stellenbosch University, in Johannesburg, South Africa.

“This is not to say the pandemic has not caused social and psychological distress and economic hardship, but it would seem from the available evidence that this has not translated into an increase in suicidal behavior at an aggregate population level,” Bantjes continued, in a statement on behalf of his international team of research colleagues, led by Dr. Duleeka Knipe at the University of Bristol.

Bantjes suggested their findings may be dubious without more data, warning that only 12 of the 135 countries in the low- and middle-income category were included in their study, and that many of those nations, particularly those in Africa, have a “longstanding” dearth of reliable data on the subject of suicide.

Moreover, concerning patterns remain among certain groups, such as teen girls in the US, who saw a marked spike in self-harm and suicide attempts between 2020 and 2021.

Still, Bantjes noted that their study supports similar research, particularly a 2021 report in The Lancet, showing that suicide rates in high-income countries were also unchanged during the pandemic.

“While the available suicide data give cause for optimism, we need to remain vigilant,” Bantjes said, adding that, for the “most vulnerable” among us, “it remains to be seen what lasting impact the pandemic will have.”