The corona crisis was and is accompanied by considerable psychological stress. Again and again the question of the development of suicides is asked. Many crises result in an increase in suicide rates – with more or less time lag. So far, this has not been the case with the corona crisis. The many economic aids probably also play a role here. However, it remains to be seen how the number of suicides will develop in the future, especially since the end of the corona crisis does not seem to be a carefree future.
The police crime statistics (PKS) in Bavaria were published a week ago. In Bavaria, the PKS also contains data on suicides and suicide attempts. The PKS is published much earlier than the cause of death statistics (TUS), so that data for the year 2022 is already available in Bavaria. Overall, the number of suicides in the PKS agrees fairly well with that in the TUS. This is also to be expected, since the police are always called in when the doctor examining the corpse finds an unclear or an unnatural cause of death, eg a suicide, ie both statistics are closely linked in terms of the genesis of the data.
In the case of suicide attempts, the PKS only provides a smaller part of what happened, since in many suicide attempts only a doctor is called, or a crisis service, or you go directly to the hospital emergency room without the police being involved. The absolute level of the numbers is therefore not of interest here, but rather the trend, age distribution, motives, etc.
In 2022, according to the PKS, the slight increase in suicide attempts since 2020 continued and in 2022 there was also a visible, albeit not dramatic, increase in suicides compared to 2021: the PKS recorded 208 more suicides than in the previous year, an increase of 13%.
The age distribution of suicides and suicide attempts has essentially remained the same and has changed only marginally compared to the pre-pandemic year 2019. Suicides are mainly found among the elderly, suicide attempts involving the police mainly in middle-aged adults.
Developments in adolescents are often of particular interest. Compared to 2021, there was a slight decrease from 24 to 18 cases in the age group under 18 in 2022, in the age group 18 to under 21 the number remained the same at 33 suicides. In the case of suicide attempts, the number in the age group 18 to under 21 fell by 17 cases, from 258 to 241. In the age group 18 to under 21 there was a relatively strong increase of 55 cases, from 194 to 249 Comparatively small number of cases, there are always stronger fluctuations, but psychiatric clinics also reported that they have to care for more suicidal adolescents with more severe symptoms in the wake of the corona crisis.
All in all, a restrained development. You will see how the gloomy world situation affects people’s minds – from the Ukraine war to climate change, which is becoming more and more commonplace, and the economically uncertain future prospects. In any case, one should not rely on the fact that the numbers will move back towards the long-term trend of falling suicide numbers on their own; more efforts to prevent suicide are required.
—————–
If you have suicidal thoughts, you can call the toll-free number 0800-655 3000 in Bavaria around the clock district crisis services and nationwide on the toll-free numbers 0800-1110111 or 0800-1110222 or 116 123 to the telephone counseling.