Depression, Self-Harm, Suicide. A Longitudinal Descriptive Study after the COVID 19 Pandemic in the Province of...

The sudden and unexpected spread of the COVID 19 pandemic forced the political and health institutions of many countries to adopt drastic measures to contain the contagion, forcing millions of people into isolation and loneliness since 2020. For this reason, health organizations were committed from the beginning to develop all strategies available to support the mental health of the community and to reduce the risks of a rising suicide rate. Although an apparent "protective" role of emergency interventions on suicidal behavior was confirmed during the first months of forced isolation of the population, in the following months a close correlation was highlighted between pandemic period, rising of psychological and psychiatric disorders, and suicidal ideation. The increased suicide rate in Trentino in the first half of 2022 was not unexpected.Beyond the possible increase in suicide rates, a sustained and chronic increase in suicidal risk, suicidal ideation and in self harm could be confirmed in the future. The implementation of successful strategies for reducing suicidal deaths is a public health issue and will lay on the availability of local prevention projects, on their effort to better understand suicide and suicidal behaviors during outbreak, in order to develop the general capacity to early identify risk situation, and to enhance the effectiveness of prevention plans.