Unintended Consequences of Covid

[Anonymous]

In recent study, teen suicides and homicides are at 20 year records. Suicides (11 per 100k) higher than homicides (10.7 per 100k)

[Anonymous]

I've seen data suggesting exactly the opposite as well.

The pressure of in-person school is clearly temporally linked to suicide; there are way more suicides during the school year than over the summer. That's true year-in and year-out.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I've seen data suggesting exactly the opposite as well.

The pressure of in-person school is clearly temporally linked to suicide; there are way more suicides during the school year than over the summer. That's true year-in and year-out.

Yet you’re apparently unable to provide a reference to any such data.

Bridge, J. A., Ruch, D. A., Sheftall, A. H., Hahm, H. C., O’Keefe, V. M., Fontanella, C. A., Brock, G., Campo, J. V., & Horowitz, L. M. (2023). Youth suicide during the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic. Pediatrics, 151(3), Article e2022058375. https://doi.org/10.1542/peds.2022-058375

[Anonymous]

What's really sad about the chart is that in 2000 there was an inverse relationship to teen suicides and teen homicides. Now they're both at 23 year highs... that isn't a victim card moment, rather the sad reality of a declining society.

[Anonymous]

That chart makes it appear the suicide rate was rising year over year even before COVID.

[Anonymous]

Honestly, I don't really understand what people seek to gain from continuing to harp on this. I'd much rather put time and energy into mental health funding.

Yes, lockdown sucked. Yes, I wanted my kids back in school and I advocated for that. No, I am not going to spend the rest of our lives being upset about decisions that were made during a once in a century pandemic.

If we are lucky, we won't live through anything worse. If we are unlucky, COVID will look like a cakewalk and at least we will understand what a lockdown means.

[Anonymous]

I hate statistics for this reason. You have a few number lines that happen to in/decrease over a finite unit of time and you make up a reason for it.

Was there a study in rival gang violence -DC, Chicago, Philly, LA, etc. that syncs to these statistics?

How about a HUGE increase in social media use and it's influence.
Maybe there should in-lay a graph and, no surprise, there will be a correlation.

Blaming covid for stuff is so 2020. It's old and not falling for it.

[Anonymous]

While the lines are trending up, and many places locked down during COVID, I’m not convinced that the lockdown caused the increase in suicides and homicides. While the lockdowns probably were a contributing factor in some cases, it’s hard to identify how much they contributed. Correlation does not equal causation. Even if the increase was COVID related, it may be due to other aspects of the pandemic. Kids may have lost loved ones during COVID, which could have also affected their family’s finances. COVID wasn’t the only thing that happened on a national scale. Racism was spotlighted with the death of George Floyd and the Black Lives Matter protests. Mass shootings are on the rise (or at least seem to be). We had a president trying to orchestrate a coup. Global warming is resulting in an increase in natural disasters. There are any number of things that someone in a negative headspace to begin with could view as confirmation that the world is doing poorly and getting worse. Moreover, someone who is already depressed can be triggered by things that resonate with them personally. That’s why suicides rates also tend to increase around the holidays. The holidays aren’t inherently negative, but for some they can be an additional stressor.

The suicide rate seemed to be generally trending up before COVID. The homicide rate seemed to be more variable. Teen suicides and homicides would seem to be fairly significant statistics that I think we must have been collecting for longer than 20 years. I think it more likely that we saw equal or higher rates 20 years ago than that these are the highest we have records of (which I think would have been explicitly noted to bolster the argument, were that the case).

To me, these are such complex issues that I think anyone who tries to attribute the increase to a specific causal factor based on this limited data, probably has an agenda.

[Anonymous]

There are a lot a lot a lot of unhappy middle and high school kids. Not saying anything scientific, just making the observation

And behavior in school has hit the skids too

Not blaming the Covid policies, we were all in uncharted territory. But good to know and study

[Anonymous]

Kids have been back in school in person for two years except a select few. So, if numbers continue to rise (and last reports were saying it was down), then is covid to blame or something else?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Kids have been back in school in person for two years except a select few. So, if numbers continue to rise (and last reports were saying it was down), then is covid to blame or something else?

You’re saying pulling kids out of school and significantly disrupting their lives for 18+ months isn’t likely to have long-term effects?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Kids have been back in school in person for two years except a select few. So, if numbers continue to rise (and last reports were saying it was down), then is covid to blame or something else?

You’re saying pulling kids out of school and significantly disrupting their lives for 18+ months isn’t likely to have long-term effects?

I think there is a lot more to mental health and that most kids weren't out of school for 18+ months. Most kids were back pretty quickly and it was only select school systems that were virtual due to overcrowded buildings, etc. Kids have been having mental health issues long before covid, and will long after. There are lots of factors from genetics, family life, etc.

[Anonymous]

Yes I’ve read deaths in young people are up also for drug over doses. I always knew there were going to be consequences to closing things down. . It’s not rocket science. Just common sense.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Honestly, I don't really understand what people seek to gain from continuing to harp on this. I'd much rather put time and energy into mental health funding.

Yes, lockdown sucked. Yes, I wanted my kids back in school and I advocated for that. No, I am not going to spend the rest of our lives being upset about decisions that were made during a once in a century pandemic.

If we are lucky, we won't live through anything worse. If we are unlucky, COVID will look like a cakewalk and at least we will understand what a lockdown means.

I want a 911 style commission to learn from mistakes.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:That chart makes it appear the suicide rate was rising year over year even before COVID.

Yep, from about 2012, coinciding with the rise in social media.