suicides to similar deaths occurring in 2019.
Suicide rates in the United States increased from 1999 to 2018, and then started to fall in 2019, according to Curtin. Monthly suicides were lower in 2020 than in 2019 from March through October and in December, the study found. A national emergency was declared in March 2020, yet the biggest drop in suicides — 14% — occurred in April when COVID-19 deaths first peaked in the United States.
Suicide rates dropped for all women in 2020, and rates also fell for white and Asian males. And while suicide rates increased for Black, American Indian or Alaska Native, and Hispanic males, this only reached significance for Hispanic males. Suicide rates rose significantly among people 25 to 34, and fell significantly among people aged 35 and older, the study found.
The new data is provisional, Curtin notes. When final information is available in early spring, the researchers plan to break it down by geographic regions as well as the method of suicide.
The new findings are in line with a recent study in 21 countries that also showed no increase in suicide during 2020.
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How the overall suicide rates decreased
“Some of the risk factors for suicide that were heightened by the pandemic — like economic hardship and mental health issues — may have been buffered in the first year by various financial support packages and mental health programs,” Jane Pirkis, director of the Centre for Mental Health at the University of Melbourne in Australia explains.
There may have also been some other protective factors, according to Pirkis. “People were feeling like ‘we’re all in this together’ and rallying round those who might be struggling.”
She said she believes it’s too early to draw any conclusions about suicides during the ongoing pandemic. “We need to remain vigilant to any increases in suicide that may occur down the track,” Pirkis says.
“There has been a dramatic increase in anxiety, depression and suicidal behavior during the pandemic, but not overall completed