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Saturday, Apr. 24, 2021

Did US suicide rates decline in the second quarter of 2020?

Stevie Rosignol-Cortez, Gigafact
yes

The suicide rate declined through the first half of 2020, countering some expectations about the impact of the pandemic.

The rate was 13.4 per 100,000 people in 2020’s second quarter, down from 14.1/100,000 in the first quarter, according to data from the Centers for Disease Control. The rate averaged 14.5/100,000 in 2019, and had steadily increased since 2000. Johns Hopkins Medicine notes that historically pandemics have often been followed by a higher suicide rate, and that the COVID-19 pandemic heightens some risk factors such as economic stress, social isolation and barriers to mental health treatment.

In some past epidemics, suicide rates improved before worsening, reflecting a “honeymoon period” or a “pulling together” phenomenon, according to Johns Hopkins.

The CDC has not yet made more recent data available.

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