Asim Shah, MD, chief of psychiatry at Harris Health Ben Taub Hospital, calls for more research into the effects of the pandemic as the number of deaths through suicide reaches almost 50,000 in the United States.
Three years after the COVID-19 pandemic, following a notable decline in the pre-pandemic years of 2019 and 2020, a report by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention shows a 2.6% increase in suicide rates for 2021 and 2022.
That brings the total to nearly 50,000 Americans dying of suicide annually; a tragic situation that requires more education and research on the long-term impact of the pandemic.
In addition to socioeconomic status and access to healthcare, the lack of socialization during the pandemic could also be a factor of suicide as social distancing made it more difficult for people to maintain normalcy
The cause of suicide is complicated as they may be the outcome of depression and other mental health conditions that many in the community have yet to grapple with.
Hospital admissions of patients with substance abuse and aggressive or agitated behavior have also increased since the COVID pandemic.
There are many factors that can lead to suicide such as socioeconomic status and access to healthcare, which is where race and ethnicity also come into play, with the report indicating an increase among Black or African Americans by 3.6%, Hispanic or Latino by 4.3%, Asian by 5.7% and White by 2.1%.
You have to ask yourself, ‘What is a person's socioeconomic status?
Do they have access to a job to sustain life?' If not, that can cause depression, hopelessness and other health issues.
Access to healthcare is important.
Imagine having a severe illness or dealing with chronic pain and no way to treat it.
All of those things could cause someone to want to hurt themselves if they don't see any light at the end of the tunnel.
In addition to socioeconomic status and access to healthcare, the lack of socialization during the pandemic could also be a factor of suicide as social distancing made it more difficult for people to maintain normalcy during the initial years of COVID.
During the first year, social distancing became more of social isolation—staying home, not going out and secluding ourselves from others.
There was also another phenomenon called touch starvation, which happens when you don't get as much physical touch as you need.
There was a need to physically distance during the pandemic and that is why I would have preferred we focused on physical distancing versus social distancing.
Though suicide can be a result of mental illness, that’s not always the case.
We need socialization to survive.
It’s not fair to always pin suicide on mental illness.
It can be a complication of depression, bipolar, schizophrenia, borderline personality, or other disorders, but suicide is an impulsive act.
For example, if somebody breaks up with a significant other and they are so devastated they want to harm themselves, that is a set of emotions that occurred instantly.
It’s not depression because if things get better in an hour, they are happy again and everything is good.
In order for someone to be clinically diagnosed, they would need to be depressed for two weeks.
Whether impulsive or not, suicide continues to be one of the leading causes of death and eliminating the stigma which often attaches to it would help lower incidents immensely.
Suicide is also underreported, with over a million suicide survivors in the United States.
So many people fail then try to commit suicide again down the line.
The number one risk factor of future suicide is previous suicide attempts.
Our job is to save them from suicide in the future, and we do that with education.
If you or someone you know needs help, a national Suicide and Crisis Lifeline hotline is available across the United States. Call988.
Suicide is also underreported, with over a million suicide survivors in the United States.
