Review of “The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on suicide rates”

By: Rifqi Arifianto Hernanto Section 8

The article ‘The impact of COVID-19 pandemic on suicide rates’ written by Leo Sher appears
in an international journal of medicine, June 2020. This article explains about the internal and
external problems caused by COVID-19 that can be a result of suicide.
Leo Sher in the article explains that the COVID-19 pandemic may increase the prevalence of
psychiatric and suicide rates during and after the pandemic because the uncertainty over the
future and people understand that the pandemic is far from over. If we look back to the past,
the world has been hit by the Spanish flu and one-third of the earth’s population is infected.
Over 50 million people died and it was associated by suicide. From the past crisis, we know
that a decrease in social interaction and fear of getting infected during the epidemic likely
increased the suicide rate.
The author stated that social isolation, anxiety, fear of contagion, uncertainty, chronic stress
and economic difficulties may lead to suicide. It has been shown that uncertainty is a more
stressful state to be in than really knowing something bad will happen. The authors found that
a spike in daily economic uncertainty leads to an immediate impact on suicides which suggest
that economic uncertainty may lead to an increase in the risk of suicide. The increases in the
unemployment rate were associated with higher prevalence of depression, alcohol, and other
substance use disorders and suicide deaths. The authors estimated that there were at least more
than 10000 economic suicides during the recession in Europe, Canada and USA. The survivors
who had severe COVID-19 have a high probability of suicide because of the fear of infecting
others, symptoms of the illness and loss of income. Leo Sher said that suicide prevention in the
COVID-19 era is an important and difficult issue. Research studies are needed of how mental
health consequences can be mitigated during and after the COVID-19 pandemic.
The topic of this article is very interesting and relevant. The authors did an excellent job of
clearly explaining the problems that need to be encountered during the COVID-19 pandemic
whether the problems from internal or external. I do agree that suicide prevention in the
COVID-19 era is an important and difficult issue, but the suicide prevention is not explained
clearly.
Suicide is a desperate attempt to escape the reality that has become suffer. A suicidal people
tend to be blinded by feeling of self-loathing, hopelessness and can’t see any way of finding
relief except through death. I do believe that a suicidal people need a closer care from the
surrounding environment. We need to be more concerned about our neighbours and people
near us because most suicidal individuals give warning signs or signals of their intentions. The
best way to prevent suicide is to recognize these warning signs and know how to respond if
you spot them. A suicidal person may lose interest in day-to-day activities, harming oneself,
using drugs, show a big changes in their habits, and saying goodbye as if they won’t be seen
again.
If we spot the signs of suicide, we need to approach them and help them. But we need to make
sure that the suicidal person doesn’t get offended by us. Melinda Smith said that we can start
the conversation by using this expression, “I have been feeling concerned about you lately”, “I
wanted to check in with you because you haven’t seemed yourself lately”. You can question
the person “How can I best support you right now?”, “When did you begin feeling like this?”.
What you can say that helps, “You are not alone in this. I’m here for you” or “I may not be
able to understand how you feel, but I care about you and I want to help”. We also need to
respond quickly and get help from other people if we can’t handle the situation.
Another way that I think can help a suicidal people is to take a spiritual approach through
religion or faith. Basically, all religion forbid their follower to commit suicide. Let’s take a
look at Islam’s perspective. There is no gender inequity in Islam, and the Quran makes it clear
that, for all of humanity, life is a struggle. There are good days and bad days, but the Quran
also reassures us that there is no shame associated with having to struggle. The teachings of
Islam discourage people from “falling off the straight path” of lifestyle choices.
Nor kill (or destroy) yourselves: for verily Allah hath been to you Most Merciful!
The Quran, An-Nisa (The Women) 4:29
Verily in the remembrance of Allah do hearts find tranquility and rest.
The Quran, Ar-Raad (The Thunder) 13:28
Come back to your Lord – well pleased (with Him) and well pleasing unto him.
The Quran, Al-Fajr (The Daybreak) 89:28

In Islam, we are encouraged to think about the verses in the Quran and what they mean. There
is a saying, “God gives a soul no more than it can bear.” This is a message of healing, especially
if someone is on the edge, such as surviving family members. I do believe that we need to
encourage people to go to the preaching session at least once a week so that we can have an
inner peace and believe that we have a meaningful life.
As seen in the above critique, the article by Leo Sher clearly explains the problem that people
encounter during the COVID-19 pandemic and we do agree that suicide prevention in COVID-
19 era is an important issue. However, the article did not explain the suicide prevention clearly.
We do suggest that a suicidal person needs a closer care from the surrounding people. We need
to care more about the people near us and we need to study deeply in religion so that we can
get inner peace and help the people in need.
References
Smith, M. (September 2020). Suicide Prevention. Help Guide.
https://www.helpguide.org/articles/suicide-prevention/suicide-prevention.htm
Suicide Prevention Resource Center. (2009). The role of faith communities in preventing
suicide: A report of an Interfaith Suicide Prevention Dialogue. Newton, MA: Education
Development Center, Inc.