Suicide during the COVID-19 pandemic in Japan

Abstract

AbstractThe prolonged uncertainty of the COVID-19 pandemic, fear and anxiety regarding infections, precautionary social isolation, and the resulting economic disruption could deteriorate psychological health and exacerbate the suicidal risk. Utilizing month-level suicide records covering the entire Japanese population (126 million) in 1,861 administrative units, we assessed if suicide mortality changed during the pandemic. We employed difference-in-difference estimation and found that overall suicide rate declined by 14.8% (95% CI: −18.9% to −10.8%) after the outbreak and the subsequent measures (school closure and the state of emergency). The decline is larger among males than females and among adults than children and older adults. The government’s generous subsidies, reduced working hours, and fewer school sessions potentially account for its sizable decline.