Why suicides declined in 2020: money.

COVID-19 killed people’s loved ones, forced millions of people into unemployment, and lost many human contacts at once for months. In many respects, the pandemic is “Perfect stormThe risk of suicide.However Recent data Shows that people in high- and middle-income countries actually committed suicide at a low rate in 2020. There is one big reason. It’s money.

The government gave citizens cash to survive the blockade.Pandemic money for many poor people Beyond normal social assistance and wages Otherwise they would have earned. Despite all the sadness, isolation and anxiety that poverty has diminished in the United States Suicide rate has dropped With it. In Canada, where emergency government payments were large and long lasting Suicide rate dropped by 30%, According to provisional data.Overall, suicide rate in 2020 Decreased or leveled off 21 high- and middle-income countries (few data on the impact of a pandemic on suicide in poor countries). Cash transfers to the poor seem to have reduced suicide.

The decline in suicide in 2020 is only the latest evidence that poverty is causing suicide.In recent years, researchers have seen suicide rates Highest among the poorest..Welfare children Double the chance of dying from suicide..Homeless people commit suicide About 10 times more frequently As people with housing.

Poor people are more vulnerable to suicide. Poverty dramatically increases your chances of developing a mental illness..Low socioeconomic status Cause About half of mental illness.. People are much more likely to develop illnesses such as depression, bipolar disorder, and even schizophrenia if they do not have enough money to meet their material needs.Researchers have discovered it for a long time Suicide rate When Psychiatric hospitalization It will definitely rise in response to the rise in the unemployment rate.

Fortunately, money solves the same problems it causes. The unemployment rate has much less impact on suicide in countries with strong financial support for the unemployed. Studies show It compared New Zealand, which had a sharp decline in the welfare state during the recession, with Finland, which did not.Few poor people died from suicide in Indonesia After the government started giving them money..Raise the minimum wage Reduce suicide rate The conclusion is simple among the poor in the United States: Preventing people from living in poverty prevents suicide.

Despite the evidence, many seem reluctant to recognize the link between suicide and the inability to meet people’s basic needs. News coverage of the decline in suicide in 2020 Alternative description, Like below Expansion of telemedicine services, or “Honeymoon“Hypothesis. The latter is the idea of ​​social rallying in a crisis. Social ties are created and strengthened, resulting in a reduction in suicide at first. Evidence of theory is weak.. Suicide may decrease as a result of a disaster, but it may remain the same or increase.Recent studies have shown that the past Epidemics often led to an increase By suicide.

Advocates and scholars also seem to avoid talking about big-picture social issues like poverty and the homeless when talking about suicide prevention. “Suicide Prevention Resource Center”comprehensiveThe list of strategies does not include anything about poverty.Does not count literature review of NS subjectInstead, it focuses on drug, treatment, and guidance to physicians to screen people at risk, among other interventions.

Even studies that conclude that poverty increases the risk of suicide author Will frequent failure Calling for changes to address poverty itself, we are moving towards traditional suicide prevention interventions instead. If the diagnosis is money and the prescription is money, the problem may be because it is outside the scope of mental health professionals studying suicide. Or maybe it’s just a realistic assessment that poverty doesn’t go anywhere.

To be clear, ending poverty does not end suicide. Many other factors are at work, and some of the traditional strategies that professionals seek are worth it. One of the most well-known and most widely effective is what experts call “meaning restrictions”. It is about changing daily life to make it harder for suicides to commit suicide. It works — for some, the suicide urge is temporary and easily frustrating. If deadly means are not readily available, the impulse will pass and one will survive.

Early examples of means restrictions came in the mid-20s^NS-Britain of the century, here Suicide rate drops due to switch stove With the transition from burning toxic coal gas to natural gas, people can no longer commit suicide simply by turning a knob to extinguish a pilot. Recently, Suicide decreased in Sri Lanka The late 1990s after the government banned groups of particularly deadly pesticides to prevent people from committing suicide.Ban Taiwan When Korea It also led to a decrease in the suicide rate.

However, it means that there are limits to the limits.It struggled after Taiwan restricted very deadly pesticides Rise of alternatives..Gun control measures Canada It curbed firearm suicide, but led to an increase in hanging.

Limitation of means is only useful for people who are already on the cliff. It prevents some suicides, but does nothing to reduce the rate at which people want to end their lives. The Sri Lankans actually poisoned themselves at an increasing rate from the late 90’s to the early 2000’s. Suicide rates were only reduced because the pesticides swallowed by people were less lethal than before. Few people died, but the root cause of suicidal tendencies remained.

Dozens of people commit suicide and hundreds take it seriously, no matter who dies from suicide. Suicide is the tip of the iceberg of inevitable human despair. The limitation of means, like many major suicide prevention strategies, is only touching the tip. Reducing poverty shrinks the iceberg itself.

Emergency response to COVID-19 has shown that cash transfers reduce suicide, even in the toughest times. The poor who would have committed suicide are alive today because the government has given them money (No eviction was critical, that too). However, these measures were not to prevent suicide, but only to save the economy. Unfortunately, the economy is back to normal.

If you need to speak, or if you or someone you know is experiencing suicidal ideation Crisis text line Call 741-741 or National suicide prevention lifeline At 1-800-273-8255.