Editor's note: This story contains discussion of suicide. If you are contemplating suicide, or worried about a friend or loved one, call the Canada Suicide Prevention Service hotline at 1-833-456-4566 24 hours a day, seven days a week, 365 days a year. Or text 45645 between 1 p.m. and 9 p.m. PT.
The Northern Health region saw a 25 per cent decrease in suicides during the COVID-19 pandemic, according to preliminary data released by the B.C. Coroners Service on Tuesday.
From April 1, 2020, to Feb. 28, 2021, there were 41 suicides in the Northern Health region. During the same period from April 2019 to February 2020, there were 55 suicides in the region.
However, the Coroners Service cautioned the data is still preliminary.
"While this data is usually not released until data has had time to settle, preliminary statistics are being made available due to public interest," the Coroners Service report says. "Data and trends for 2020 and 2021 should be interpreted with caution as the data require time to settle; cases that are currently classified as undetermined may be updated and those classified as suicide may also change as the coroner’s investigation concludes."
Four of the province's five health authority regions saw a decrease in suicides over the pandemic time period, with Vancouver Coastal being the only area to see an increase. The province saw a total of 534 suicide deaths during the pandemic timeframe, a 12 per cent decrease from the same period in 2019-2020.
Provincially, the highest rate of suicide during the pandemic was among people 50 to 59, followed closely by those aged 19 to 29. The two age groups accounted for more than 38 per cent of all suicides.
The lowest rate of suicide was reported in youth, aged 10 to 18, who accounted for less than four per cent of all suicide deaths.
A breakdown by gender wasn't provided, but B.C. Coroners Service data from 2008 to 2018 shows men are roughly three times as likely to commit suicide as women.
Overall, in 2020 there were 45 suicide deaths reported in the Northern Health region, down from 66 reported in 2019, the B.C. Coroners Service reported. Up until the end of February, 11 suicides had been reported in the north so far in 2021.
