Deaths by Suicide Drop in 2020 While Overall Deaths Soared During Pandemic

Deaths by suicide declined by almost 6% from 2019 to 2020, according to areport inJAMA based on statistics from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).The decline is one hopeful finding in an otherwise grim report that revealed a 17.7% increase in overall deaths in 2020, with most of those directly attributable to COVID-19.“The reported decrease in deaths by suicide makes us hopeful that protective mental health measures are having a positive impact amid a time of collective distress,” said Christine Moutier, M.D., chief medical officer for the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention (AFSP), in astatement. “While we don’t know the exact contributors to the reported decline in suicides, research does show us that prioritizing and having open, honest dialog about mental health on the individual and national levels, implementing practices that reduce suicide risk in clinical and community settings, a nd seeking help early and when indicated can reduce suicide deaths.”In the JAMA report, Farida B. Ahmad, M.P.H., and Robert Anderson, Ph.D., of the CDC ’s National Center for Health Statistics looked at deaths that occurred from January through December 2020, as reported in the National Vital Statistics System. A total of 44,834 deaths by suicide occurred in 2020, a decrease of 5.6% from the 47,511 suicides in 2019. In contrast, the overall numbe r of deaths increased by 503,976 (17.7%) in 2020, with 345,323 of those attributable to COVID-19.While the AF...
Source: Psychiatr News - Category: Psychiatry Tags: CDC Christine Moutier COVID-19 deaths JAMA Maria A. Oquendo pandemic suicide Source Type: research