Suicide rates didn’t increase during pandemic
14 June 2022
Many people, including mental health experts, anticipated a dramatic increase in suicide rates following the outbreak of Covid-19. But in fact, this has not been the case and most of the research published in scientific journals points to either no change or a decrease in rates of suicide following the pandemic.
This is according to a new international study on the impact of Covid-19 on rates of suicide and self-harm in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs). Led by Dr Duleeka Knipe from the Population Health Sciences Institute at the Bristol Medical School at the University of Bristol, the research was conducted by a group of scientists from across the globe, including Stellenbosch University (SU) and the South African Medical Research Council (SAMRC).
The findings of their study were published recently in the journal PLOS Global Public Health.
The researchers systematically collected and synthesised evidence on the impact of the pandemic on suicide and self-harm in LMICs, as part of an ongoing systematic review that continuously identifies and collates research on suicidal behaviour through a comprehensive automated search of multiple databases in all languages. They used this extensive database to identify all studies with data about the impact of the pandemic on suicide deaths and rates of self-harm in LMICs. They also assessed the quality of the studies and the methodology used to ensure that badly designed studies with unreliable data did not contaminate their findings.