Research, data and specialists opinion suggests we may face a big increase in mortality and suicide rates due to covid-19 pandemic indirect toxic stress and mental health effects

 

Meanwhile, the World Health Organization notes that a diversion of resources could have especially devastating effects on the fight against malaria. Under a worst-case scenario, in which all insecticide-treated bed net campaigns are suspended, and there is a 75% reduction in access to effective antimalarial medicines, fatalities from the mosquito-borne illness could reach 769,000 — double the number of deaths in 2018 — effectively wiping out 20 years of gains in suppressing malaria mortality. Similarly, a new analysis by researchers at Imperial College London found that in low- and middle-income countries, disruptions to health services could cause deaths from HIV, tuberculosis, and malaria to increase by up to 10, 20, and 36 percent respectively over five years.

 

Source: https://www.who.int/news-room/detail/23-04-2020-who-urges-countries-to-move-quickly-to-save-lives-from-malaria-in-sub-saharan-africa

Source: https://www.imperial.ac.uk/mrc-global-infectious-disease-analysis/covid-19/report-19-hiv-tb-malaria/

 

 

The severe acute respiratory syndrome epidemic in 2003 was associated with a 30% increase in suicide in those aged 65 years and older;

Possible sollutions: 17. Gunnell D, Appleby L, Arensman E, et al. Suicide risk and prevention during the COVID-19 pandemic. Lancet Psychiatry (in press).

Source: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7159850/

 

 

Close to 800 000 people die due to suicide every year, which is one person every 40 seconds. Suicide is a global phenomenon and occurs throughout the lifespan. Effective and evidence-based interventions can be implemented at population, sub-population and individual levels to prevent suicide and suicide attempts. There are indications that for each adult who died by suicide there may have been more than 20 others attempting suicide.

https://www.who.int/mental_health/prevention/suicide/suicideprevent/en/

 

 

75,000 Americans at risk of dying from overdose or suicide due to coronavirus despair, group warns

Source: https://wellbeingtrust.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/05/WBT_Deaths-of-Despair_COVID-19-FINAL-FINAL.pdf

Source: https://wellbeingtrust.org/news/new-wbt-robert-graham-center-analysis-the-covid-pandemic-could-lead-to-75000-additional-deaths-from-alcohol-and-drug-misuse-and-suicide/

 

 

The economic crisis in Europe and North America led to more than 10,000 extra suicides, according to figures from UK researchers.

 

Source: https://www.bbc.com/news/health-27796628

More on the suicide expected rise here: https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lanpsy/article/PIIS2215-0366(20)30171-1/fulltext?utm_source=yahoo&utm_medium=referral&utm_campaign=in-text-link

 

 

We used nationwide Danish register data to conduct a prospective cohort study with over 30 million person-years of follow-up.

Anxiety disorders significantly increased mortality risk. Comorbidity of anxiety disorders and depression played an important part in the increased mortality.

Source: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5082973/

 

The presence of OCD (Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder) was associated with a significantly increased mortality risk. Comorbid anxiety disorders, depression, or substance use disorders further increased the risk. However, after adjusting for these and somatic comorbidities, we found that the mortality risk remained significantly increased among persons with OCD.

Source: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/26818216

 

Additionally, as unemployment rises and a recession nears, suicides may increase. During the Great Recession, the U.S. unemployment rate rose to 10% and was associated with increases in suicide rates.

Date: 21 Apr 2020

Source: https://www.kff.org/health-reform/issue-brief/the-implications-of-covid-19-for-mental-health-and-substance-use/

Source: https://www.kff.org/health-reform/report/kff-health-tracking-poll-early-april-2020/

 

 

A bit about how many other deaths occur each year and why it is so important to invest in the mental health of people working in the medical field and of people that can take more effective measures to prevent the covid 19 disease: https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2020/05/how-many-people-die-each-day-covid-19-coronavirus

Nearly 150,000 people die each day around the world, according to 2017 data.

On the flipside, since the WHO declared COVID-19 a pandemic on March 11, 2020, daily confirmed deaths have fallen in a wide range between 272 and 10,520 per day—and there is no telling what could happen in the future.

While it’s impossible to know the true death toll of COVID-19, it is clear that in some countries daily deaths have reached rates 50% or higher than the historical average for periods of time:

Source: https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2020/05/how-many-people-die-each-day-covid-19-coronavirus