Use of telephone crisis hotline by callers with suicidality in Japan during the COVID-19 pandemic

Objective: The purpose of this study was to clarify changes over time in suicidal tendencies among crisis hotline service users in Japan before and during the COVID-19 pandemic. Method: We analyzed telephone consultation data from January 2017 to June 2021 held by Inochi No Denwa, a leading organization providing a telephone crisis hotline in Japan. The number of monthly consultations by gender and the monthly counts of consultations identified by counselors as suicidal were collected, and we calculated trends over time in the proportion of suicidal calls by month using Joinpoint regression analysis. Results: The results indicated that the use of telephone crisis hotlines by suicidal callers increased significantly in Japan during the second wave of the pandemic in June to October 2020. These trends were also observed for both male and female users, although the increase began 1 month earlier for females than for males. Conclusion: Previous studies reported that mental health deteriorated and suicide risk increased significantly during the second wave of COVID-19 in Japan. These trends are consistent with the present findings, suggesting increased use of the crisis hotline by individuals at high suicide risk.