Global Suicide Rates Did Not Increase at the Beginning of the Pandemic, Study Finds

May 21, 2021

News Type:  Weekly Spark, Weekly Spark News

NBC News

New research suggests global suicide rates did not rise at the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic. Researchers looked at data from 21 countries, including the U.S., between April 1 and July 31 of 2020. They found that suicide rates in most places stayed the same or went down. The authors cautioned that their findings do not capture the pandemic’s impact on mental health. According to Jill Harkavy-Friedman, vice president of research at the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention, the results demonstrate that suicide is preventable, not inevitable. “My main takeaway from the study is there are things we can do to prevent suicide on a population level, as well as an individual level,” she said. “We have to remain vigilant with providing access to mental health care.”

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