The onset of the COVID pandemic brought with it an increase in hospital admissions of people who self-harmed or thought of injuring themselves, according to recent local research.
The studies, which have been published in international journals, confirm warnings by experts about an increase in severe mental health issues following the pandemic – including mood disorders like depression.
Despite this, although the number of attempted suicides increased slightly since the pandemic first hit, the number of people who died by suicide in 2022 was similar to the pre-pandemic average, according to police data.
Twenty-four people died by suicide last year, 21 of whom were men. This was 10 less than in 2021, when 34 deaths by suicide were registered by the police.
However, the average of deaths in the five previous years stood at 22. Additionally, there were 111 suicide attempts in 2022, following 102 attempts in 2021 and 127 in 2020.
Experts in Malta often urge caution over interpreting local suicide data as the numbers are too small to derive significant conclusions.
When contacted, Mental Health Services clinical chairman Anton Grech said that according to research at Mount Carmel Hospital, the pandemic did bring about an increase in admissions of people with thoughts and behaviour of self-harm and also mood disorders.
“The fact that this was not reflected in an increase in the number suicides could have various reasons. It is possible that people suffering from mental disorders have been seeking help more than before,” he said.
“With the pandemic, Mental Health Services have also reorganised themselves to be more present and accessible in the community – something that could have also helped.”
One study, recently published in the International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, led by Sean Warwicker under the supervision of Grech, compared admissions to Malta’s Mount Carmel Hospital in the first two years of the pandemic (2020 and 2021) with 2019 data.
On a mean monthly basis for 2019, 5.6 patients presented with non-suicidal self-injury, 23.2 with suicidal ideation, and 7.8 with suicidal self-injury.
The total number of admissions for 2020 was similar to that for 2019. However, patients with suicidal ideation increased to 36.1 per month, and there was also a borderline significant increase in people with suicidal self-injury to 11.3 per month.
According to research at Mount Carmel Hospital, the pandemic did bring about an increase in admissions of people with thoughts and behaviour of self-harm and also mood disorders- Anton Grech, Mental Health Services clinical chairman
Strikingly, there were much greater changes in 2021. The mean number of people with non-suicidal self-injury grew from 5.6 in 2019 to nine per month. People with suicidal ideation grew to 44.8 per month and suicidal self-injury to 13.3 per month.
Meanwhile, the researchers note a surge in total admissions for the year due to significant increases in admissions for mood disorders (from 27.2 per month in 2019 to 42.5 per month in 2021) and anxiety disorders (15.8 per month to 20.3 per month).
“Mood and anxiety disorders have to date featured extensively in the discussion regarding the impact of the pandemic on psychological well-being.
"Our findings confirm that not only did admissions across these two diagnostic blocks continue to grow during the second year of the pandemic, but also that more patients were admitted with psychotic disorders, personality disorders, and autism spectrum disorder, an upswing that was not yet perceptible in 2020,” the researchers note.
“When these results are taken in the context of consecutive increases in involuntary admissions for the two years of the pandemic, and the year-on-year increases in presentations with non-suicidal self-injury, suicidal ideation, and suicidal self-injury, they suggest that psychiatric presentations were more frequent in 2021 and were also more severe.”
They note that over the span of the pandemic, admissions increased when people were spending more time in public places and fell when they were more restricted to their homes, adding that school closures also impacted children’s and adolescents’ mental well-being.
They urge policymakers to keep “detrimental psychological impacts of any pandemic event” in mind, and warn that access to mental healthcare services should be given high priority.
‘Substantial increase in the number of people seeking help’
When contacted, Richmond Foundation COO Daniela Calleja Bitar noted that while further research was required to understand patterns of death by suicide following the pandemic, there was a substantial increase in the number of people seeking help.
Research led by Josianne Scerri, which included work by Calleja Bitar among others, shows that the number of calls made to a mental health helpline increased from a total of 289 in the first three months of 2020 to 973 in just one month: April 2020.
Numbers remained consistently high – 494 calls were made in May, dropping slightly in summer and increasing again to 328 by October.
Suicide is not a sign of weakness, and it isn’t about seeking attention or being selfish. If you are or someone you know is experiencing mental health problems or suicidal thoughts, speak up. If it is urgent, you can call the emergency number 112 or the new 24/7 mental health helpline 1579.
If you need further support and guidance, call Richmond helpline 1770, type https://olli.chat/ in a window browser or go on www.kellimni.com.