Mental health experts predict rise in female suicide attempts due to COVID economic fallout

Mental health experts are predicting a shocking increase in the number of girls and women attempting suicide amid the COVID-19 economic fallout.

Mental health experts predict a shocking increase in the number of women in female-dominated industries attempting suicide amid the COVID-19 economic fallout.

Sydney University research reveals self-harm hospitalisations, indicative of suicide ­attempts, are projected to increase by 6.5 per cent in the five years to March 2025.

Increases in self-harm hospitalisations are greater among women than men across all age-groups.

Females aged 15-24 are predicted to have a 7 per cent ­increase in suicide attempts, compared to a 6.4 per cent ­increase for males.

Brain and Mind Centre health and policy co-director Professor Ian Hickie said the pandemic had hit hospitality, tourism and casual employment the hardest.

Kaitlin Mountain has called for better mental health services. Picture: Dylan Robinson

These industries were overwhelmingly dominated by women, while male-domin­ated areas like construction and mining had benefited from significant government assistance or remained largely unaffected by lockdowns.

“Given the ongoing gender gap in attempted suicide and the need for urgent mental health care, governments need to focus urgently on greater employment, childcare, education and health services support for women in 2021 and beyond,” Prof Hickie said.

“This is particularly so for younger women who are trying to move from post-school or tertiary education to employment, those who have childcare responsibilities, and those living in rural and ­regional Australia.”

The NSW suicide monitoring system has also revealed a worrying increase in the number of females killing themselves. Between 2019 and 2020 the number of female suspected suicide deaths increased from 213 to 227, while the number of male deaths decreased from 731 to 671.

Sydney woman Kaitlin Mountain, 29, suffers from ­bipolar disorder, major depression and complex PTSD. She has tried to suicide five times, and says the follow-up care after being in the public system has been poor.

She said she only received effective treatment via the private system at St Vincent’s Hospital Darlinghurst.

“People who want to take their lives can feel like they have nothing to hold on to,” she said. “There needs to be a complete overhaul because at the moment there is not enough funding.”

The Sunday Telegraph’s Can We Talk campaign calls on the NSW government to ­increase school counsellors to one for every 500 students. The government agreed to raise counsellor numbers in 2018 “in principle” but did not follow through.

Assistant Minister to the Prime Minister for Mental Health and Suicide Prevention David Coleman said the government had “invested more than $500 million in a range of responses to the mental health impacts of COVID-19, including more support for organisations such as Beyond Blue and Lifeline”.

Lifeline: 13 11 14, Beyond Blue: 1300 22 46 36

Originally published as Mental health experts predict rise in female suicide attempts due to COVID economic fallout