Abstract
Background: The COVID-19 pandemic and its consequences may affect population mental health and suicide risk.
Aims: To explore the experiences among suicidal individuals who made calls to a suicide prevention hotline and to identify factors and psychological responses that may influence suicide risk.
Method: We identified 60 eligible recorded calls to Taiwan’s suicide prevention hotline (January 23-May 31, 2020) and analyzed the transcripts using the framework analysis.
Findings: We identified three themes: (a) effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on society (impacts on local economies, the fear of contagion, and disruptions caused by outbreak control measures); (b) stress experienced by callers, including increased challenges (financial burden, restricted freedom of movement, interpersonal conflicts, feelings of uncertainty, and education/career interruption) and reduced support (reduced access to health services and social support); and (c) the callers’ psychological responses to stress, including anxiety, sleep disturbance, depression, loneliness, hopelessness, and entrapment, which may increase suicide risk.
Limitations: Only the experiences among those who sought help by calling the hotline during the early months of the pandemic in 2020 were explored.
Conclusion: Our findings revealed the potential process underlying the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on suicide risk and have implications for prevention and intervention strategies.
Aims: To explore the experiences among suicidal individuals who made calls to a suicide prevention hotline and to identify factors and psychological responses that may influence suicide risk.
Method: We identified 60 eligible recorded calls to Taiwan’s suicide prevention hotline (January 23-May 31, 2020) and analyzed the transcripts using the framework analysis.
Findings: We identified three themes: (a) effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on society (impacts on local economies, the fear of contagion, and disruptions caused by outbreak control measures); (b) stress experienced by callers, including increased challenges (financial burden, restricted freedom of movement, interpersonal conflicts, feelings of uncertainty, and education/career interruption) and reduced support (reduced access to health services and social support); and (c) the callers’ psychological responses to stress, including anxiety, sleep disturbance, depression, loneliness, hopelessness, and entrapment, which may increase suicide risk.
Limitations: Only the experiences among those who sought help by calling the hotline during the early months of the pandemic in 2020 were explored.
Conclusion: Our findings revealed the potential process underlying the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on suicide risk and have implications for prevention and intervention strategies.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 1-12 |
| Number of pages | 12 |
| Journal | Crisis: Journal of Crisis Intervention and Suicide Prevention |
| Volume | 0 |
| Issue number | 0 |
| Early online date | 19 Aug 2022 |
| DOIs | |
| Publication status | E-pub ahead of print - 19 Aug 2022 |
Bibliographical note
Publisher Copyright:© 2022 The Author(s).
Research Groups and Themes
- SASH
Keywords
- COVID-19
- suicide
- psychological responses
- mental health
- helpline
Access to Document
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This is the final published version of the article (version of record). It first appeared online via Hogrefe Publishing Group at https://doi.org/10.1027/0227-5910/a000877. Please refer to any applicable terms of use of the publisher.