This release from the Office for National Statistics supports other research. It shows that there has not been a rise in death by suicide in England and Wales over the pandemic.
There was in fact a decrease in deaths between April and July.
In England the ONS uses coroner data, and so these figures are for the date the death was registered, not the date the death happened. This is why there's a delay in the data. It's also a small, partial, explanation for the decreased numbers: so many people were dying of all causes that coroners were disrupted and so some deaths were registered late. This does not explain the full decrease though.
We do need to be cautious though -- we know that the pandemic has increased despair for many people for a variety of reasons, and so we could see an increase in death by suicide in the future.
There was in fact a decrease in deaths between April and July.
In England the ONS uses coroner data, and so these figures are for the date the death was registered, not the date the death happened. This is why there's a delay in the data. It's also a small, partial, explanation for the decreased numbers: so many people were dying of all causes that coroners were disrupted and so some deaths were registered late. This does not explain the full decrease though.
We do need to be cautious though -- we know that the pandemic has increased despair for many people for a variety of reasons, and so we could see an increase in death by suicide in the future.