Everybody remembers what it was like to be in quarantine in March and April of 2020. At first, we thought two weeks of staying at home and not seeing friends was going to be impossible. But after those two weeks turned into months, the lifestyle of being socially distanced and in quarantine became the new normal.
During this time of prolonged quarantine, medical professionals began to worry about the increase in suicide rates as many may have felt trapped or severely isolated from others in addition to the constant updates of deaths around the world. In a New York Times article from May 10, 2020, Matthew Nock, a psychology professor at Harvard said, “We’ve never had anything like this – and we know social isolation is related to suicide.”
“I guess quarantine was a blessing in disguise because people were able to cope with this differently,” junior mass communications major Jamia Johnson said.
While it was expected that there would be a substantial increase in suicide, especially those of children and adolescents, professionals are finding that there was somewhat of a decrease in these rates. We were living in a time where there were numerous deaths, store shelves were bare, and individuals were losing their jobs and worrying about how they would feed their families. However, according to AP News, suicide rates fell about 6% during the pandemic starting in March of 2020.
Brooke Stout, a sophomore human development and family studies major said “I can totally see suicide rates going down because as someone with anxiety and am an introvert, quarantine was a dream for me. I was able to focus on myself and my own needs without the influence of bad relationships and life getting in the way.”
While the entire country was locked up in their homes and jobs were brought to a halt, people were forced to slow down. People began to do things they didn’t have the time to do before. Activities such as gardening, trying new recipes, adopting animals, and home improvement projects were popular amidst the beginning of quarantine.
According to NBC News, studies display that in many areas of the country suicide rates either remained flat or decrease, but cases of depression, anxiety, and eating disorders increased. During this isolation period the world was constantly talking about COVID and the thousands of deaths that were happening to people we knew. This feeling of loneliness was a factor that led to eating disorders, along with depression and anxiety disorders.
According to the World Health Organization, over 93% of mental health services where paused due to exposure and the then unknown information about the virus. Therefore, those who were developing these negative health experiences were unable to meet with health professionals in person. Nor were they meeting with or being referred to health consoler’s, therapists, or psychiatrists.
In those months of quarantine, there was a lot more than a pandemic happening in the United States. People marched the streets to bring awareness to police brutality and justice for those of the African American community that were victims to the injustice in our country.
Even though many of the peaceful protests were met with violence, the Black Lives Matter movement brought people together to fight for the same cause.
Senior biology major Josh LeClerg said, “The BLM movement gave people a cause to rally around, so even though it stood in opposition to violence, which normally increases suicide rates, it was a source of solidarity and community.”
Community is what has brought us thus far in this pandemic. When we cannot meet up with our friends and families, we utilize Zoom calls and FaceTime to connect with other people because it is what we are used to.
The COVID-19 pandemic has caused an immeasurable amount of devastation and loss. Seeing a decrease in suicide cases is what everyone would like to see as many individuals have been affected by this world health crisis. Unfortunately, we have seen an increase in mental health issues in young adults. Thankfully, various of the mental health diagnoses can be treated with therapy and medication.
Graphic by Katelyn Miller
