74 - Do Lockdowns Cause Suicide?
Two Shrinks Pod
English - October 28, 2021 11:29 - 1 hour - 115 MB - ★★★★★ - 50 ratingsSocial Sciences Science Health & Fitness Medicine Homepage Download Apple Podcasts Google Podcasts Overcast Castro Pocket Casts RSS feed
It is late October 2021, Melbourne is emerging from a 77 day lockdown and we’ve just earned the dubious title of most locked down city in the world. Throughout, this difficult situation has been made harder by constant media and political pressure to end lockdowns, often with the argument that lockdowns cause suicide.
We wanted to dig into this properly and find out from the data whether this actually was the case? In this episode we take a look at suicide statistics in four Western countries, talk through the factors that can lead to suicide and provide some tips for how to respond if you or someone you care about is feeling suicidal.
Supports (for Australian listeners):
If you are in immediate danger: 000
For crisis support 24/7: Lifeline 13 11 14 or
Suicide call back service (24 hour phone & online support): 1300 659 467
or online www.suicidecallbackservice.org.au
To access local crisis team support, call your state’s contact number: https://www.healthdirect.gov.au/crisis-management
To access private psychologists: see a GP for a mental health care plan or contact local private practices. Your GP may know of local clinics with availability or shorter wait times.
Research and data:
Australian Institute of Health and Welfare data: https://www.aihw.gov.au/suicide-self-harm-monitoring/data/suspected-deaths-by-suicide/data-from-suicide-registers
Victorian coroner’s court data: https://www.coronerscourt.vic.gov.au/sites/default/files/2021-01/Coroners%20Court%20Monthly%20Suicide%20Data%20Report%20-%20December%202020.pdf
NZ symptoms: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/34313158/
UK suicide rates: https://www.ons.gov.uk/releases/deathsfromsuicidethatoccurredinenglandandwalesbetweenaprilandjuly2020
US suicide minorities: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/33290944/
US suicide data: https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamanetworkopen/fullarticle/2775359
America’s health rankings (data from all states): https://www.americashealthrankings.org/explore/annual/measure/Suicide/state/ALL?edition-year=2020