Suicide risk and prevention during the COVID-۱۹ pandemic A brief review

Introduction: Suicide is one of the most important problems in public health and is a major emergency in the mental health profession. The annual estimate of suicide attempts in the world is about ۲۰ to ۵۰ million cases, of which about ۸۰۰ thousand cases lead to complete suicide. The Covid-۱۹ epidemic has affected all aspects of life, and there is great concern that the COVID-۱۹ epidemic could harm mental health and increase the risk of suicide, therefore, the present study was designed to determine the risk of suicide and prevention during the Covid-۱۹ epidemic.Search Methods: The present study was a summary review study designed in December ۲۰۲۱. To search for similar articles, valid scientific databases such as PubMed / Medline, Scopus and ISI (Web of Sciences) were used. Selected keywords according to the MeSH guidelines included "Suicide", "COVID-۱۹" and "SARS-COV-۲", which were searched using the ANDOR operators. Initially, ۶۸ articles were retrieved, and after applying the inclusion and exclusion criteria, ۲۷ articles were extracted. Inclusion criteria included the availability of the full text of the article, Latinness of the article and exclusion criteria also included: abstracts of papers presented at congresses and conferences.Results: Studies of various studies have shown that psychiatric disorders such as depression, fear, anxiety as well as economic factors such as recession, unemployment, job loss and labor market closure increase the risk of suicide. Some studies have also suggested the effect of social disconnection, quarantine, social isolation, family disconnection, school and university closures on the increased risk of suicide. The results of various studies showed that during the Covid-۱۹ epidemic, like the previous SARS and Spanish flu epidemics, there was an increase in suicide rates. Factors such as the loss of loved ones, loneliness, social communication disorders, limited access to health care and home quarantine, etc. can provide the conditions for suicide attempts.Conclusion: Preventive efforts to prevent suicide are a must around the world. Educating people in the community, holding training and counseling courses for vulnerable people in the community, especially during the Covid-۱۹ pandemic can be effective in preventing suicide attempts also, reducing the dissemination of negative information through the mass media, etc., can help reduce suicide attempts and their unpleasant consequences.

Keywords:

Suicide , Covid-۱۹ , Psychiatric disorders