Our second paper on the critical issue of suicidal ideation in the community, based on data from the second lockdown (22/11-21/12/2020), has been published in Psychiatry Research.
We remind you that since March 2020, we have created an electronic questionnaire to study the psychosocial impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic. During the first lockdown (April 7 to May 3), a total of 5,748 individuals from the community participated in the survey by anonymously completing this questionnaire on a secure website of the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens. It is important to emphasize that our questionnaire collected data from the first lockdown period, and considerable effort was made to ensure the sample was as representative as possible, including individuals from typically underrepresented groups such as the elderly and patients.
From this sample, our paper "Suicidal ideation during COVID-19 lockdown in Greece: Prevalence in the community, risk and protective factors" was published in Psychiatry Research. In this study, 5,116 individuals who fully completed our questionnaire reported suicidal thoughts at a rate of 5.2%. Additionally, 14.1% of the sample possibly suffered from anxiety disorders, and 26.5% possibly suffered from depression. Independent risk factors for suicidal ideation included anxiety, depression, dysfunctional family dynamics, being single or divorced, having a history of diagnosed mental illness, or perceiving one's physical health as poor. Conversely, independent protective factors against suicidal ideation included mental resilience, relationships with friends, faith in a higher power, and positive feelings towards lockdown measures. Investigating both the risk and protective factors of suicidal ideation is crucial during this challenging pandemic period.
An alarming finding from this study was that individuals who completed the questionnaire during the last two weeks of the first lockdown reported significantly higher levels of suicidal ideation, depression, and anxiety compared to those who completed it in the preceding two weeks. We believe this finding is likely due to the prolonged duration and strictness of the lockdown.
With great interest (and concern), we awaited the results of our second research study conducted during the second lockdown.
Out of the 5,116 individuals who fully completed our questionnaire, 1,380 provided their email for future participation, and 811 of these individuals fully completed our questionnaire for the second time between November 22 and December 21, 2020. These 811 participants, who were found to be largely representative of the broader sample, reported suicidal ideation at a rate of 4.8% during the first lockdown and 4.3% during the second lockdown, a difference that is not statistically significant. Independent predictive factors for suicidal ideation during the second lockdown included depression, anxiety, suicidal ideation during the first lockdown, and living with a vulnerable person to COVID-19 infection.
It is noted that during this second lockdown, the percentage of individuals possibly suffering from depression in the sub-sample of 811 remained essentially unchanged at 25.4%, while the percentage of those suffering from anxiety increased to 15.6% (compared to 12.5% during the first lockdown). We believe that better access to health services, financial support from the state, and increased mobility offset the greater severity of the second wave of the pandemic.
Article link:Does suicidal ideation increase during the second COVID-19 lockdown?
R. Gournellis, Professor of Psychiatry, A. Papadopoulou, Senior Registrar, V. Efstathiou, Psychologist, V. Giotsidi, Clinical Psychologist, A. Douzenis, Professor of Psychiatry Second Psychiatric Clinic, Medical School, "Attikon" University General Hospital Postgraduate Program "Liaison Psychiatry: Integrative Care for Physical and Mental Health" National and Kapodistrian University of Athe
