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The Office for National Statistics (ONS) have released the latest stats on deaths from suicide between April and July 2020 in England and Wales.
Prof Louis Appleby, Professor of Psychiatry, University of Manchester, said:
“These are the first full national suicide rates covering the period after the pandemic began and the first to come through the official inquest system. They are crucial to our understanding of the mental health impact of Covid-19.
“The report shows no rise in suicide during or after first lockdown. In fact, the rates were lower than in previous years – ONS interprets this fall cautiously because there may be a small number of deaths still to reach inquest. However, ONS is confident that the rise that at the time many predicted did not occur.
“The most striking finding is the fall in suicide in young people – down 30% in the under 25s. The mental health of young people has been a major concern during the pandemic and there is evidence of greater distress, yet this does not seem to have translated into higher suicide rates.
“These figures are not the final word on pandemic suicide. They go only as far as July last year. Risk may still rise from any major economic downturn. But something kept rates down in the first wave – social cohesion, mutual support, the commitment of services and charities – and we need to make sure we don’t lose this.”
Prof Rory O’Connor, a chartered psychologist with the British Psychological Society, of the University of Glasgow and President of the International Association for Suicide Prevention, said:
“It is reassuring that the suicide statistics for England did not show a rise in suicide in the early months of the pandemic, indeed, there was a decrease in deaths by suicide. These findings are consistent with studies from other high income countries. However, it is vital that we remain vigilant, as we know that the mental health and wellbeing of some groups of people have been adversely affected by the pandemic in particular. Also, the recovery from the pandemic will be bumpy especially as many of the protective measures such as furlough are removed. We need to be especially mindful of young people, people from more socially disadvantaged backgrounds and those who experienced mental health problems before the pandemic. The governments across the UK must redouble their efforts to ensure that existing health inequalities are not even further ingrained. Many of the challenges of navigating the recovery from Covid-19 will be discussed at the joint British Psychological Society and Mental Health Academy 2021 Suicide Prevention Summit next week.”
Prof Kevin McConway, Emeritus Professor of Applied Statistics, The Open University, said:
“The main broad conclusion of this careful analysis by ONS is that, despite some predictions to the contrary that were made before data were available, the suicide rate during the first wave of the Covid-19 pandemic (April-July 2020) in England and Wales was somewhat lower than it usually is. This reduction was, to a considerable extent, due to lower suicide rates than usual in April 2020, particularly in men, but the pattern is a bit broader than that. This doesn’t surprise me at all. Previous investigations of suicides, going back at least to the pioneering sociologist Émile Durkheim in the late 1800s, have found that suicide rates are generally lower than usual during wartime, though there have been some exceptions. The pandemic has not been a war against a human enemy, but it does have much in common, in terms of a very serious external threat to our society. Also, as the ONS bulletin reports, other studies, one1 based on real-time monitoring of suicides in some parts of England, and another2 that looked at patterns across 21 countries, found broadly similar results about the first wave of the pandemic.
“Whether this pattern continued further into the pandemic remains to be seen. It takes time, at least several months and sometimes years, before deaths by suicide can be recorded in official statistics. That’s because, in England and Wales (and similarly in many other countries), suspected suicide deaths have to be investigated by a coroner. In England and Wales, until that investigation occurs, the death cannot be registered so that the ONS statisticians do not even know that a death has occurred. (In Scotland and many other countries, registration that a death has occurred is separate from registration of the cause of death, so official statisticians know much earlier that a suspected death from suicide has happened and can therefore count it in the total of registered deaths. However, recording officially that suicide was the cause of death still cannot occur promptly until after an investigation.) Therefore detailed analysis of suicide rates after July last year cannot yet happen.
“I should point out that, importantly, this ONS bulletin asks journalists covering this or any other suicide-related issue to follow the Samaritans’ media guidelines on reporting of suicides. And, though comments through the SMC are aimed at journalists and not directly the general public, they can be read on the Centre’s website by the public, so I must mention that anyone struggling with these issues can call Samaritans free of charge on 116 203 (in the UK and Ireland).”
1 https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lanepe/article/PIIS2666-7762(21)00087-9/fulltext
2 https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lanpsy/article/PIIS2215-0366(21)00091-2/fulltext
All our previous output on this subject can be seen at this weblink:
www.sciencemediacentre.org/tag/covid-19
Declared interests
Prof Louis Appleby: “My own position is Prof of Psychiatry at Manchester University where I lead a suicide prevention research group. I also chair the Govt’s advisory group on suicide prevention.”
Prof Kevin McConway: “I am a Trustee of the SMC and a member of its Advisory Committee. I am also a member of the Public Data Advisory Group, which provides expert advice to the Cabinet Office on aspects of public understanding of data during the pandemic. My quote above is in my capacity as an independent professional statistician.”
None others received.