Prior studies of “deaths of despair”(DOD) have documented this trend in the U.S. but not in Western European nations. During the COVID-19 pandemic, concerns were raised about potential spikes in suicide and drug abuse rates due to social isolation, job loss, economic insecurity, and inaccessibility of services. The authors of this study used pandemic data to address questions regarding the effect of the pandemic on DOD in the U.S. and the U.K. Mortality data was gathered for England, Wales, Northern Ireland, Scotland, and the U.S. Surprisingly, suicide rates were relatively stable during the first two years of the pandemic (2020 and 2021). However, England, Wales, and the U.S. saw an increase in alcohol-specific deaths, with higher death rates among women than men. In the U.S., drug-related deaths accelerated during the pandemic for both men and women, with a 54% increase for men between 2019-2021. Age-specific data were inconsistent: compared to the U.K., the U.S. had the sharpest increase in alcohol and drug deaths across almost all age groups during the pandemic.
In summary, suicide concerns during the pandemic were unfounded. However, almost all countries saw a pandemic-related spike in alcohol deaths, and the U.S. experienced an unmatched spike in drug deaths. Although DOD is purported to be higher among lower-income residents, this study did not incorporate socioeconomic data. “The increases in alcohol and drug misuse deaths in the United States are particularly stark and suggest that policy action is urgently required…Whether these increases in mortality will return to pre-pandemic levels in the coming years represents a major public health concern” (p. 95).
Angus, C. Buckley, C., Tilstra, A. M., & Dowd, J. B. (2023). Increases in ‘deaths of despair’ during the COVID-19 pandemic in the United States and the United Kingdom. Public Health, 218, 92-96.
©Jennie Dilworth, Ph.D