If I lose my job, but most of the other men in my workplace and in my social environment keep theirs, that tends to have a much worse effect on my self-esteem than if all the men in my workplace lose their job because the government closed the workplace by fiat or if half of the men in my social environment lose their jobs because of a lockdown, so I would expect this recession to cause fewer suicides in the US than a typical US recession did since a persistent sense of not measuring up to the other men in my social environment is according to my understanding a major cause of suicide.
The other major cause of suicide according to my understanding is a breakdown in society: in short people need to feel like they belong—to know where they belong in the social structure, which doesn’t happen during rapid social change (whether the change is “positive” or “negative” in the long term). That explains the huge increase in suicide (and addictive behavior) in Russia in 1991. Although the lockdowns in response to the virus are causing disruptions, men know the disruptions will end and that when they do, most social arrangement will go back to the way it they were—in sharp contrast to the situation in Russia in 1991. Consequently I wouldn’t expect the lockdowns to disrupt society enough to cause a large increase in suicides.
Clarification: I think most men know or will soon enough find out, e.g., through the media that the lockdowns won’t persist past the end of next winter (Northern Hemisphere) at the latest.
If I lose my job, but most of the other men in my workplace and in my social environment keep theirs, that tends to have a much worse effect on my self-esteem than if all the men in my workplace lose their job because the government closed the workplace by fiat or if half of the men in my social environment lose their jobs because of a lockdown, so I would expect this recession to cause fewer suicides in the US than a typical US recession did since a persistent sense of not measuring up to the other men in my social environment is according to my understanding a major cause of suicide.
The other major cause of suicide according to my understanding is a breakdown in society: in short people need to feel like they belong—to know where they belong in the social structure, which doesn’t happen during rapid social change (whether the change is “positive” or “negative” in the long term). That explains the huge increase in suicide (and addictive behavior) in Russia in 1991. Although the lockdowns in response to the virus are causing disruptions, men know the disruptions will end and that when they do, most social arrangement will go back to the way it they were—in sharp contrast to the situation in Russia in 1991. Consequently I wouldn’t expect the lockdowns to disrupt society enough to cause a large increase in suicides.
Clarification: I think most men know or will soon enough find out, e.g., through the media that the lockdowns won’t persist past the end of next winter (Northern Hemisphere) at the latest.