Abstract

Suicide rates reflect the mental health status in certain countries or regions. As the COVID-19 infection developed as a pandemic and governments imposed certain measures to stop the spread of the virus, mental health was affected worldwide. Romania was no exception as the government issued a complete lockdown with restriction regarding travels, social gatherings, transition to working from home and others. The increase in the rate of unemployment, the difficulties in accessing the health services and the social distancing generated by the restrictions had a major impact on lifestyle with a potential surge of psychiatric disorders, with or without history of illness. In this study, we analyzed the changes in regard to the number of suicides and suicide attempts as well as the methods employed and the underlying psychiatric pathology in Cluj County, Romania, throughout the first year of the pandemic. The results had not revealed changes in the overall suicide rate, but in the case of mild cognitive disorders and dementia the suicide figures increased, while a decrease was observed in the number of suicides related to substance use disorders. The long-term effects of the pandemic remain unknown, but there is a clear impact on mental health and measures should be taken in order to prevent suicides.

摘要

自杀率反映了某些国家或地区的心理健康状况。随着 COVID-19 感染发展成为大流行病，各国政府采取了某些措施来阻止病毒的传播，全球范围内的心理健康受到了影响。罗马尼亚也不例外，因为政府发布了全面封锁措施，对旅行、社交聚会、过渡到在家工作等方面进行了限制。失业率的上升、获得医疗服务的困难以及限制造成的社会疏远对生活方式产生了重大影响，精神疾病的潜在激增，无论是否有病史。在这项研究中，我们分析了克卢日县自杀和自杀未遂数量的变化，以及所采用的方法和潜在的精神病理学，罗马尼亚，在大流行的第一年。结果并未显示总体自杀率发生变化，但在轻度认知障碍和痴呆症的情况下，自杀人数有所增加，而与物质使用障碍相关的自杀人数则有所下降。大流行的长期影响仍然未知，但对心理健康有明显影响，应采取措施防止自杀。