Abstract

The mental health effects of the pandemic, the economic recession, social distancing, and the stress of living through unprecedented times came with an associated increased incidence of major depressive disorder (MDD), generalized anxiety disorder, and substance use disorders. At the onset of the pandemic, these factors were speculated to come with detrimental effects on mental health and a subsequent potential increase in suicide rates. However, as the year 2020 ended, there was a paradoxical decrease in the suicide rates in Broward, Palm Beach, and Miami-Dade Counties. In this retrospective cohort study, the suicide death data were collected from the Florida Department of Health, Bureau of Vital Statistics from the years 2010 through 2020. The Cochran-Armitage test of linear trends were used to evaluate any significant changes in suicide trends. The incidence of suicide remained stable in all three south Florida counties. Furthermore, after excluding 2020 data, the incidence of suicide per capita in state of Florida showed an upward trend of 0.03 per year till 2019 (95% CI: 0.002 to 0.049; p=0.037). The decrease in suicide rates in the tri-county area during the pandemic year of 2020 may be attributed to increased utilization of telehealth, increased time spent with family during lockdown, and less restrictive social distancing guidelines in the state of Florida allowing for the ability to exercise and use green spaces. The impacts of COVID-19 on suicide and mental health must be analyzed further to determine methods to mitigate risk, alleviate suicide risk factors, and enhance protective factors.