Getting Closer to Our Unpleasant Previse: Possible Rise in Suicide Rate in Iran During COVID-19 Pandemic

The novel coronavirus 2019 (COVID-19) has expanded rapidly around the world. In addition to physical illness, COVID-19 has affected other aspects of human life in a variety of ways. Because of its high transmission and mortality rate and the absence of effective treatment and vaccine, governments have implemented social distancing, isolation, quarantine, and lockdowns in society. Now the world is facing the third wave of soaring death tolls from COVID- 19. It has led to the closure of many businesses, and millions of people have lost their jobs. Financial problems, especially in developing countries, became one of the important consequences of this contagious disease. These conditions, in combination with the psychological burdens of quarantine and lockdown, may cause mental health problems such as fear, stress, anxiety, depression, PTSD, and unresolved grief and suicide (1). Some case-series and report studies of COVID-19-related suicides have been reported in different countries, hitherto (2, 3). One case of COVID-19- related family suicide in Iran has been reported after the death of the father due to COVID-19 (4). Other suicide cases related to COVID-19 have been reported in the media. For instance, a 36-year-old woman in Tehran, the capital city, with no record of personal/family history of psychiatric illness or attempted suicide, committed suicide during the period of quarantine. This suicide happened after two months of her husband’s infection with COVID-19. She became depressed and committed suicide by jumping off the sixth floor of a residential building (5). Another case of an 86-year-oldmanin Tabriz withanunknownpsychiatric history was hospitalized due to complications from Covid-19, attempted suicide by jumping from his hospital room (6).