See
CDC Director Compares Rate of Suicides to COVID-19 Deaths by Micaela Burrow of Townhall.
"Center for Disease Control Director Robert Redfield said in a Buck Institute webinar
that suicides and drug overdoses have surpassed the death rate for
COVID-19 among high school students.
Redfield argued that lockdowns and
lack of public schooling constituted a disproportionally negative impact
on young peoples’ mental health.
"But
there has been another cost that we’ve seen, particularly in high
schools," Redfield said. "We’re seeing, sadly, far greater suicides now
than we are deaths from COVID. We’re seeing far greater deaths from drug
overdose that are above excess that we had as background than we are
seeing the deaths from COVID. So this is why I keep coming back for the
overall social being of individuals, is let’s all work together and find
out how we can find common ground to get these schools open in a way
that people are comfortable and their safe."
Roughly 146,000 people have died from COVID or COVID-related causes in the U.S., according to CDC data.
The most recent publicized federal data records 48,000 deaths from suicide and at least 1.4 million attempts in 2018. In 2019, almost 71,000 people died from drug overdoses.
Where Redfield obtained his data is unknown, although a doctor
at John Muir Medical Center in Walnut Creek, CA claimed the facility
has “seen a year’s worth of suicide attempts in the last four weeks.” He
did not say how many deaths occurred, or whether the statement was
exaggerated for emphasis.
"What I have seen recently, I have never
seen before," Hansen said. "I have never seen so much intentional
injury,” said a nurse from the same hospital.
And while health authorities
will not have verified data regarding suicides and drug overdoses in
2020 for two more years, local reporting indicates that suicide
fatalities have increased year-on-year.
According to the American Medical Association,
“More than 35 states have reported increases in opioid-related
mortality as well as ongoing concerns for those with a mental illness or
substance use disorder in counties and other areas within the state.”
In Eagle County, Colorado, six suicides have been recorded, just one below the yearly average. Colorado
on the whole recorded a 40 percent decrease in suicides in March and
April, but the number of calls to Colorado Crisis Services increased 48
percent.
The Chicago Sun-Times
looked specifically at black populations. In Cook County, Illinois, the
number of suicide deaths is already higher than for all of 2019.
In Yakima County, Washington, the suicide rate has risen 30 percent, according to the county coroner.
Between March 15 and April 29, as many people commited suicide in Queens, New York than did between January 1 and April 29 the year prior.
The Pima County Health Department in Arizona has recorded an uptick in suicide rates as well.
Ulster County reported a significant increase in both suicides and drug overdoses, both fatal and non-fatal.
Historical
trends give reason to believe the suicide rate may rise due to
extenuating circumstances caused by COVID-19, including unemployment and
social isolation. For example, in the year after the Great Recession in
2008, the rate in America was 6.4 percent
higher than expected. While the rate didn’t’ “skyrocket,” as some have
predicted it will this year, the coronavirus pandemic and economic
shutdown has dealt a worse blow to the U.S. psyche.
Thirty to 40 million jobs have been lost to the economic shutdown, compared to 2.6 million in 2008."
No comments:
Post a Comment
Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.