No Evidence Lockdowns Led to Increased Child Suicide
The Claim
Government lockdowns have been a major contributor to the increase in childhood suicide in 2020,
News posted on
Emerging story
In late 2020, a range of newspaper sources claimed that child suicide rates were increasing due to the pandemic. These headlines have led other sources to blame government lockdowns specifically for childhood suicide increases, as opposed to the pandemic in general.
People who are against coronavirus lockdowns have used this as evidence against going into lockdown. Users on social media have been stating that the lockdowns have killed significantly more people than they have saved.
Misbar’s Analysis
Misbar’s investigation shows that statements that claim that child suicide is increasing due to government lockdowns is misleading. Doctor David C. Rettew, a child psychiatrist at University of Vermont, has stated that “there actually is not evidence at this point that the COVID-19 pandemic has led to a broad spike in youth suicide deaths or attempts.” He cites the a study in Pediatrics, the official journal of the American Academy of Pediatrics, which indicates that childhood suicide rates were increasing before the pandemic.
Our analysis has highlighted one fact among the Pediatrics study that indicates that government restrictions were not the primary cause of childhood suicide in 2020. This fact is that youth suicide attempts in the USA had already increased significantly in February 2020, before any government coronavirus lockdowns were in place.
This increase shows that government restrictions are not the sole cause of the increased suicide rate among children in 2020.The lockdowns could be a factor in the increase. But since correlation is not causation, labeling lockdowns as the sole/primary cause in childhood suicide increases is inaccurate.
