We are excited to share a recent article that was published in the University of Michigan School of Information News that features our descriptive study on suicide deaths during the Covid-19 pandemic, which we conducted as a part of the ATLAS project. This study, which was recently published in PLOS One, examines pandemic-related circumstances contributing to suicide deaths during the acute phase of the Covid-19 pandemic (i.e., 2020). We used topic modeling to analyze narrative data from the CDC’s National Violent Reporting System and found that, among suicide cases in 2020, 7% of narratives described some aspect of the pandemic, including shutdown restrictions, financial losses, and concerns about infection.

This article gives an overview of they key background and findings of the paper and features interviews from Drs. Briana Mezuk and Kara Zivin, co-PI’s of the ATLAS Study, whose comments highlight the need for research and policy to better understand the impact of the pandemic on suicide and other mental health outcomes so as to inform future prevention and intervention efforts. You can read the full article here.