Challenges of the COVID-19 Pandemic on Suicide Prevention Beyond Humans

Ming-Been Lee

《Journal of Suicidology》 Vol.17 No.4 (2022/12) Pp. 304-304

https://doi.org/10.30126/JoS.202212_17(4).0016

摘要

Suicide involves a complex dynamic process with multiple factors in bio-psycho-socio-cultural and ecological interaction. By December 25, 2022, over 660 million people had been infected by SARS-CoV-2 and approximately 6.6 million had died from COVID-19 around the world. The COVID-19 pandemic crisis associated with the disease itself, social restrictions, and subsequent economic depression had negative impacts on people's mental health and heightened suicide risk. In the post-COVID-19 era, the long-term risk factors included a wide range of physical, psychosocial, and economical issues such as the confirmed cases with long COVID-19 and multiple life stressors. In particular, the mental health of the ethnic minority and low-income groups in some countries has been badly affected. Although a report on suicide rates of 33 nations during the first 9-15 months of the pandemic indicated little evidence of increasing suicide risk in general, the potential impact on suicide rates cannot be overlooked for the affected demographic subgroups and regions with elevated risk prior to the pandemic. Therefore, the temporal trends in suicide rates among subpopulations need further investigation. Policymakers need to take preventive measures to protect the most vulnerable individuals, families, and communities after the pandemic. This is especially critical in the current challenges of global mental health issues due to extreme climate change, economic depreciation, civil unrest, and an armed conflict between nations. In Taiwan, 44% of the general population aged over 15 years suffered from various COVID-related stressors in terms of physical health, mental health, job or finances, interpersonal relationships, and 20% reported feeling stressed toward war. The effects of the COVID-19 pandemic were extensive and complicated. There were no consistent patterns of impacts on suicide risk because the extent and severity of COVID-19 as well as the preventive measures for viral spread and economic depreciation were greatly different between and within countries. Other than the direct impacts of the COVID-19 disaster on humans, it was clinically common to see that pet death could inflict a significant emotional impact upon the owner and result in a complicated grief response and suicidality. Nowadays, pets are part of families all over the world. A recent study from Australia revealed that pets were a source of much-needed comfort and companionship during the pandemic and lockdown. In addition, parents and children who were feeling anxious and unsettled were more likely to have stronger bonds with their pets. The human-pet relationship was unique because pets gave their owners unconditional love and companionship and helped them manage loneliness and sometimes depression during the pandemic. In Taiwan, pets grew much faster than newborns; in 2021, the number of registered pet dogs and cats in Taiwan exceeded the young population aged 0-14 years first time in history. Similarly, about 70 percent of households owned a pet in Australia with a 10 percent increase during the pandemic. Pets tended to enhance human well-being in both psychological and physical aspects such as enhancing self-esteem and increasing physical activity. There is a strong emotional tie between the pet and its owner. The death of a companion pet could be as devastating as the loss of a human significant other. The pandemic created a highly stressful environment for some families who were working and learning from home with pets in the absence of usual social support and outlets. A recent study conducted during a strict lockdown period of the pandemic in Australia noted that pet ownership was significantly associated with poorer quality of life. Thus, pets might increase owners' burden and contribute to poorer quality of life. Younger age, female gender, and pre-existing health conditions were reported as risk factors for a significant increase in mental health problems in the first year of the pandemic (WHO, Scientific Brief, 2022). According to the pet consumption behavior survey in Taiwan, female owners were 1.7 times more than male owners. The precise role and impacts of pets within the family in addition to demographics, internal and external stressors are worthy of further exploration in the context of psychological well-being and suicide prevention.

關鍵字

COVID-19 ； suicide ； suicide prevention ； pet ownership ； pet death ； suicide risk