Increased incidence of high-lethality suicide attempts after the declaration of the state of alarm due to the COVID-19 pandemic in Salamanca: A real-world observational study

Abstract

[EN] The coronavirus pandemic has led to people getting involved in harmful behaviors. In our observational study, we assessed 241 patients with suicidal thoughts or behaviors in the emergency room before, during, and after the lockdown, from January to July 2020. After the lockdown, retired patients made higher-lethality attempts, and consultations related to suicide were less frequent, but active suicidal behaviors were more frequent. Men tended to use more lethal methods, and women made more suicidal gestures and had more suicide-related consultations. We observed an increase in the lethality of the attempts after the declaration of the state of alarm.