National observation of death by suicide in the first 3 months under COVID‐19 pandemic

The COVID-19 pandemic has changed the way we live drastically and evoked fear, grief, and loneliness in large groups. Growing research has shown a high level of stress, insomnia, depressive symptoms, and suicidal ideation in various segments of the population.1 In this report, we present the very first national data on death by suicide during the first 3 months under the pandemic. The Cause of Death Register in Norway has just released preliminary statistics for the first 3-month period under the COVID-19 pandemic.2 It shows that in the period March to May 2020, 140 suicides have been registered, corresponding to a rate of 2.8 per 100,000 in the population (Table 1). This rate is lower than the rate for the five previous years in the same month period, but still within what one can expect from random variation. The mean age of these suicide cases is 45 years old, 46 years old for men, and 44 for women, with no significant differences from previous years. It is expected that the released figures may increase slightly upon the completion of collection of information from all sources including autopsies. The coverage of data collection is 92% for the current preliminary data and can increase to 98% upon the completion of yearly data collection.2 Although it may be too early to draw firm conclusions, there is no indication that there has been an increase of suicide in the first 3-month period of the pandemic in Norway. This is somewhat in contrast to what many suicide experts have feared to be a consequence of the pandemic and the lockdown.3, 4 However, large scale crises may in the short term lead to increased social cohesion so that people who are otherwise marginalized may receive more social support. The experience that life gets a different focus may increase so that previous difficulties become less urgent, making life more precious and suicide less likely.4 Perhaps more important to the observed lack of increase in the suicide rate in Norway so far is that a wide range of psychosocial preventive measures was implemented immediately after the lockdown (March 12) in Norway: keeping mental health services open, opening digital treatment services for people with mental health and addiction problems, providing more online guidance to service providers about risk factors and preventive measures, providing extra funding for crisis telephone and online crisis services, and offering large packages of financial support that have meant a lot to reduce the stress of unemployment and financial insecurity for the many affected by the lockdown of society. The pandemic has placed a major strain on mental healthcare services, imposing unprecedented challenges. We need to watch closely on how suicide rates develop over time and in vulnerable populations. As the pandemic continues and its psychosocial sequelae worsens or persists for the years to come, suicide rate may increase, but hopefully to a lower extent if our mental healthcare and support services are well prepared. None. PQ and LM conceived the idea of report. PQ compiled the data and wrote the draft. Both authors contributed the critical revision and approved the final version of manuscript for submission. The peer review history for this article is available at https://publons.com/publon/10.1111/acps.13246. [Correction added on 3 February 2021, after first online publication: URL for peer review history has been corrected.]