Did insomnia cause April’s spike in suicidal thoughts?

Evidence from surveys shows that there may have been a spike in suicidal thoughts in the United States during the wide lockdown period in April.

The harmful effects of COVID-19 may go beyond the body, whether you’ve contracted the disease or not, according to the research, which focused on the impact of the novel coronavirus on mental health.

The National Suicide Prevention Lifeline’s telephone number is 1-800-273-8255.

Researchers found two possible reasons for the increase in suicidal thoughts: loneliness and anxiety-induced insomnia.

Their findings, which are yet to be peer-reviewed, appear as two letters to the editor (one, two) of the journal Psychiatry Research.

The researchers, including William “Scott” Killgore, a psychiatry professor in the University of Arizona’s College of Medicine-Tucson, and study coauthor Michael Grandner, an associate professor of psychiatry and director of the Sleep and Health Research Program in the psychiatry department and the Behavioral Sleep Medicine Clinic at Banner University Medical Center Tucson, based their findings on surveys of over 1,000 Americans between the ages of 18 and 34.

The researchers continue to analyze survey data monthly in an effort to track mental health responses to COVID-19 throughout the year.

Here, Killgore and Grandner explain ways to protect your mental health during this time:

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