COVID-19 and suicide of an army soldier in India: perspectives on psychosocial epidemiology of suicidal behavior
The novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic is critically impacting health and wellbeing around the world. In addition to physical health problems, COVID-19 is increasingly reported to be associated with mental health problems across populations. Evidence from the current pandemic and earlier infectious disease outbreaks suggests that several psychosocial factors, including fear and susceptibility of infection, stigma, lack of awareness, pre-existing health problems, and poor social support affect the mental health status among the vulnerable individuals and populations. Moreover, social determinants of mental health are disproportionately distributed across populations, which also affect coping with adverse psychosocial conditions. During COVID-19 pandemic, many psychological challenges are aggravating globally, including suicidal behavior. In this correspondence, we discuss a case of suicide of an army soldier in India and the psychosocial epidemiology of suicidal behavior in the context of COVID-19.