Suicide deaths fell in New Jersey in the first two months of the coronavirus pandemic despite widespread signs that the crisis has exacerbated mental health problems.
As the disease spread in the state in March and April, fewer people killed themselves than in the previous two years, preliminary state data shows. But mental health experts warn that could change as the months of social isolation and economic hardship grow, and concerns about a revitalized outbreak increase.
“It’s about cumulative stress,” said Dr. Daniel Finch, a psychiatrist and vice president of CarePlus New Jersey, a Paramus nonprofit that provides behavioral health services in northern Jersey. “It is about cumulative depression, anxiety and trauma.”
In March, 42 people died from suicide across the state, compared to 62 people in 2019 and 68 in 2018, according to preliminary statistics released last week by the Health Department.
In April, there were 51 suicides, up from 60 in 2019 and 49 in 2018.
Suicides can take six to eight weeks to investigate, but initial May figures suggest the month also saw a decline, with 44 deaths recorded so far, compared to 69 last year and 67 in 2018.
The decline is counterintuitive, considering the profound impact of the coronavirus, which has disrupted public life in countless ways, robbing children of their schools, workers from their jobs, and killing nearly 15,700 residents. But experts interviewed by NJ Advance Media noted that suicide is preventable and offered several reasons why an increase has yet to be seen:
The immediacy of the initial crisis.: When the coronavirus hit New Jersey hard, residents were so involved in addressing the rudiments of life: how to educate their children from home, how to ensure that their elderly parents were safe, how to keep paying the bills, which could have been less likely to dwell on their own psychological problems.
“People all of a sudden had to spend all their time babysitting, tending to basic needs,” said Finch. “If you give someone a reason to live and it is now, ‘I have to take care of my family that is in crisis,’ that is actually an element of suicide deterrence.”
The rise of telemedicine.: At the beginning of the outbreak, New Jersey loosened restrictions to allow doctors to see patients remotely, using web-based computing platforms. For someone struggling with depression or anxiety, it’s been a blessing, as someone who may have a hard time getting out of bed can now access psychological help from the comfort of their home, said Dr. Stephen Scheinthal, President from the Rowan University Department. Psychiatry.
“People are getting more attention. There is easier access to care, ”said Scheinthal. “I don’t know if people wait that long for visits.”
Scheinthal said that early in the crisis, he shared fears that the coronavirus would lead to an increase in suicides. While it’s difficult to predict what the coming months will hold, he said, he has been surprised at how resilient people have proven to be.
“This has dramatically impacted the future of our lives, and yet we are seeing people thrive and find ways to adapt, which is inspiring, actually,” Scheinthal said.
Public understanding that wellness is important: As states sink, many people have recognized the need to closely monitor the mental health of themselves and their families, said Elizabeth Roithmayr-Clemens, New Jersey area director of the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention.
That has made residents more proactive in finding ways to stay balanced, Roithmayr-Clemens said. She said an online suicide prevention forum that her organization, “Talk Saves Lives,” has routinely seen high attendance rates of 50 to 100 people per session.
“I really believe that people are aware of what is happening, they are in tune with their mental health,” said Roithmayr-Clemens. “They want to do what they can to help, which has been really encouraging.”
There are many signs that contagion is hurting mental health across the country, and public health experts have warned that those impacts could be felt for years. Weekly surveys conducted by the Census Bureau to track the psychological cost of the coronavirus show that 39% of Americans show symptoms of anxiety or depression. At Garden State, that number is 38%.
Calls to the New Jersey suicide prevention hotline have skyrocketed during the pandemic. From March to June, there were 19,049 calls for help, compared to 13,857 last year, according to the state Department of Human Services. A separate mental health call line saw its volume increase 80% in April and May compared to last year, to 6,261 calls.
Suicide is already among the top 10 causes of death in the United States and has been growing nationwide for the past 20 years, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. But New Jersey traditionally has one of the lowest suicide rates, and ranked 50th out of 50 states in 2018, the last year for which the CDC compiled rankings.
That year, 778 new Jerseyans killed themselves, a rate of 8.3 per 100,000 residents. Wyoming led the nation with a rate more than three times higher than that of New Jersey.
Valerie Mielke, assistant commissioner of the New Jersey Division of Mental Health and Addiction Services, said that with the pandemic, the state has taken steps to ensure that residents in crisis are able to access the services they need, including allowing telehealth, expanding capacity on your mental health call line and leveraging federal dollars to strengthen treatment.
“In terms of response, I think we are doing well,” said Mielke.
There is help for those with suicidal thoughts. If you are in crisis, call Hopeline of New Jersey at 1-855-654-6735 or text [email protected].
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Riley Yates can be contacted at [email protected].
