Table 1.
Characteristics of included studies describing attempted suicide and suicide.
| Author/ Year/ Country | Country | Mental health condition | Suicide/ attempted suicide | Relationship with COVID | Comments |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Goyal et al. (2020) |
India | Not specified | Suicide | Believed he had COVID-19 and was fearful of infecting others |
50-year-old male, Father of three Became preoccupied with media coverage of COVID-19 |
|
Mamun & Ullah (2020) |
Pakistan | Not specified | Attempted suicide and suicide | Economic recession and distress, Fear of COVID-19 infection |
12 suicides, 4 attempted suicides based on media reports |
|
Zhang et al. (2020) |
China | Acute and Transient Psychotic Disorder | Attempted suicide | Fearful of COVID-19 and suspected he was infected despite negative test result. | Male, 20 years old, student. Existing mental health problems |
|
Rani et al. (2020) |
India | Alcohol dependence | Attempted suicide | No access to alcohol due to COVID-19 lockdown withdrawal symptoms | Male, 60 years old, farmer in the community with history of alcohol dependence for 20 years |
|
Epstein et al. (2020) |
Israel | Anxiety and insomnia | Attempted suicide. | Positive for COVID – 19 and on an isolation ward in hospital. During hospital stay, developed anxiety and insomnia symptoms | Male, 34 years old, staying in hospital. medical history of diabetes mellitus and smoking |
|
Aquila et al. (2020a) |
Italy | None described | Suicide | Fear of COVID-19, awaiting test results, forced cohabitation, fear of spreading COVID-19, financial concerns | 10 cases described based on newspaper reports. Cases included 3 nurses and a medical director |
|
Aquila et al. (2020b) |
India | Obsessive thinking and anxiety | Suicide | Obsessive ideas about his health and fear of the global pandemic | Male, 60 years old, retired. Existing mental health problems. Suicide notes detailed his anxiety and obsessive thoughts |
| Rahman et al. (2020) |
Worldwide (Italy, United Kingdom, United States, Mexico, India) | Out of 6 cases, one patient had opioid addiction | Suicide | Awaiting test results, positive COVID-19 result, experiencing COVID-19 symptoms, lack of suitable personal protective equipment, under quarantine restrictions |
6 cases of nurses Based on news reports (49, twenties, 34, 32, age not given, age not given) |
| Lathabhaven et al. (2020) |
India | None stated. ‘Depressive feelings’ |
Suicide | Student concerned about academic performance due to lack of online access for economic reasons. | 15 year old female in the community |
|
Mamun et al. (2020a) |
Bangladesh | None stated | Suicide | Unresolved argument related to online schooling issues caused by COVID-19 quarantine and spatial distancing policies |
‘Suicide pact’ Mother (47) and son (22, university student) dyad in the community. |
|
Mamun et al. (2020b) |
Bangladesh | None mentioned | Suicide | Woman was unable to get treatment for her condition by anyone at the hospital allegedly due to the fear of COVID-19 transmission |
40 year old woman In hospital at time of suicide |
|
Liu et al. (2020) |
China | No history of mental illness ‘Depressive feelings’ |
Attempted suicide | Patient and four of his family members tested positive for COVID-19. Strong sense of guilt of infecting others and worry about being discriminated |
52 year old male admitted to hospital |
| Griffiths et al. (2020) |
India, United States and Bangladesh | None reported | Attempted suicide and suicide | COVID-19 related suicide due to fear of being infected with COVID-19, COVID-19 related ‘tension’, fear of contracting COVID, isolation and quarantine from wife and pressure / discrimination from community, financial consequences of COVID-19 | 6 cases of male female couples based on news reports COVID-19-related Murder-suicide by gunshot. Male shot his partner (who had been suffering from severe breathing problems) before killing himself |
| Mamum & Griffiths (2020) |
Bangladesh | None described | Suicide | Himself and the people in his village believed him to be infected with COVID-19. Prejudice from his community | 36-year-old. Autopsy results showed that he did not have COVID-19 Male, age not specified, from India took his own life, to avoid spreading COVID-19 around his village |
|
Sahoo et al. (2020) |
India | Development of mental health difficulties; excessive worrying, refusal to eat, anxiety. | Attempted suicide | Fear of contracting COVID-19 and excessive worrying about his own death and the death of his family members. Self-isolation worsened his anxiety | 52-year-old male and 40-year-old male in the community |
|
Rana (2020) |
India | Major Depressive Disorder | Suicide | Fear of COVID-19, fear of infecting others | 5 older adultsdied by suicide due to a relapse of major depressive disorder. One couple left a suicide note. Negative COVID-19 test result after suicide. Male & Female couple suicide pact (age not given) 2 Males (75 & 60 years old) 1 Female (65 years old) |
|
Mirza et al. (2020) |
United States | Command auditory Suicidal Hallucinations | Attempted suicide | Tested COVID positive Some general COVID-19 anxiety |
No prior psychiatric or physical medical history 53 year old male |
|
Ahmed et al. (2020) |
India | Alcohol withdrawal symptoms | Suicide | Could not get alcohol due to COVID-19 lockdown restrictions | Evidence from media reports 23 males died by suicide due to the unavailability of alcohol during COVID-19. Age ranged from 28 to 70 years 15 men took their own life within the first 7 days of the lock down. |
|
Buschmann & Tsokos (2020) |
Germany | All eleven cases suffered pre-existing mental difficulties including depression and hypochondriacal delusion |
Suicide | Fear of COVID-19 Effect of COVID-19 lockdown |
11 cases described None proven as being COVID-19 positive |