Citation

Olié E, Nogue E, Picot MC, Courtet P. J. Affect. Disord. 2022; ePub(ePub): ePub.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2022, Elsevier Publishing)

DOI

10.1016/j.jad.2022.01.081

PMID

35065089

Abstract

Evidence has shown that the COVID outbreak negatively impacted the mental health of the population in general. Still, few have commented on how this impact has translated into suicidal behaviors although many experts alerted on the potential risk of suicide with COVID emergence. The first studies considering only 2020 reported no difference or reduced emergency department (ED) attendances for self-harm during the epidemic vs. non-epidemic periods in adults (Rogers et al., 2021; Sveticic et al., 2021). But one must take the case seasonal component accounting for the variations observed during the year into account. Relative to a similar period in 2019, the number of ED visits for suicide attempts (SA) remained stable among American adults aged 18-25 during summer 2020 and winter 2021 (Yard, 2021). During spring 2020 vs. 2019, the number of SA-related hospitalizations significantly decreased in France (Olié et al., 2021), whereas an increase in admissions for deliberate self-harm was observed in the UK (Shields et al., 2021). These results are difficult to interpret as studied periods are heterogeneous for seasons and restrictive measures due to COVID-19. It is thus essential to consider the whole year 2020 to investigate the global evolution of suicidal risk since the COVID outbreak and determine which periods are at higher or lower risk of SA in 2020.

Language: en