Suicide and homicide before and during the COVID-19 pandemic in Milan, Italy

Abstract

Background: The COVID-19 pandemic has been postulated to account for inflated rates of either suicides or homicides. Nonetheless, results are discordant, in particular concerning suicide. We aimed to perform a retrospective analysis of suicides and homicides in the region of Lombardy, Northern Italy (districts of Milan and Monza Brianza), the Italian region most seriously impacted by the pandemic outbreak. Methods: Data were collected during the autopsies performed at the Institute of Forensic Medicine in Milan. We presented suicides and homicides in the years 2015–2021 and compared the year 2021 to 2019, a pre-COVID-19 year. Results: Data may allow us to cautiously hypothesize a normalization of trends (“regression” to the mean effect) as time passes from the COVID-19 outbreak. Limitations: Limited number of events, in particular, homicides. Conclusions: Recording historical reports from the same region is warranted besides the comparisons across different countries.

Keywords

• COVID-19
• Suicide
• Homicide
• Italy