Fewer suicides, but severely weakened mental health from Covid-19, points out the National Suicide Observatory

What have they been the effects of the pandemic and confinements on suicide risk ?

If the four previous reports produced by the National Observatory on Suicides between 2014 and 2020 were of a general nature, this fifth document published this week by the Directorate for Research, Studies, Evaluation and Statistics could not ignore the climate of the health crisis and its impact. on mental health. What are your observations?

First, it identifies three main causes of the impact of the health crisis on mental health. On the one hand, the “loss of social ties” generated by confinements and curfews, a source of“social isolation” and’ “A break from collective routines”. On the other hand, the “Family retreat”, which can lead to stress and domestic violence. Finally, it is the “Fear of contamination, feeling of uncertainty and fear of the post-pandemic crisis”which were sources of psychological distress and depressive syndromes.

The report also confirms that different segments of the population have been the most affected and affected by the pandemic: young people, women and people in precarious situations, “Socio-economically vulnerable”.

The reasons for the decline in suicides during imprisonment

The authors of the fifth report of the National Observatory on Suicides highlight two important results, on the one hand the “decrease in suicide deaths and in the use of self-harm treatment in the general population”. A rather surprising positive sign, but one that can be explained: “Unexpectedly, some aspects of the measures to combat the epidemic may also have contributed to reducing the risk of suicide”the report says.

In some cases, confinement has made it possible to strengthen family ties and increase vigilance to identify, for example, danger signals coming from relatives. However, social inequalities are never far off and the entire population has not experienced imprisonment in the same way, as the summary of the report points out:

“While some categories of the population have benefited from the help of those around them and from relatively stress-free living conditions, others, notably so-called ‘frontline’ workers and people living in overcrowded or low-quality housing. on the contrary, they have experienced exacerbated professional stress, an increased fear of being contaminated and a general deterioration of their living conditions. “

Teenage girls particularly vulnerable to suicide risk

Second, the report notes a “Significant increase in suicidal gestures among adolescents and young women” from the second half of 2020. While hospitalizations for self-harm have decreased in the general population, in this category they have increased.

In early 2022, a report by Publication he immersed us in a Parisian pediatric emergency room and has already shown concern for this phenomenon, the causes of which are still poorly identified:

“Today girls represent 80% of hospitalizations for suicidal gestures. A figure that doctors struggle to explain. “Are girls more likely to consult and therefore identify them more easily?” asks Vincent Trebossen, a child psychiatrist who walked through the corridors of Robert-Debré. “Do they suffer more from the pandemic, stress, disruption of routine, domestic violence or even increased screen time? It’s still too early to tell, it’s really hard to crack.

Again, social origin is also at stake in the risk of suicide attempts, as the resources of the ONS report show: “Among people aged 15 to 19, this risk is even eight times higher for young women in the poorest 25% of the population than for young men in the richest 25%. “

However, the mental health of the general population has been severely tested since the first months of imprisonment. This degradation and its consequences must not be overlooked. Today, he recommends the High Authority for Health “Global prevention of juvenile suicide” identify risks and manage patients optimally.

Photo credit: Engin Akyurt via Pexels