News ‘Deaths of despair’: Coronavirus pandemic could push suicide, drug overdose deaths above 100,000, study says May 8, 2020 Jayne O'Donnell, USA TODAY Comments Off on ‘Deaths of despair’: Coronavirus pandemic could push suicide, drug overdose deaths above 100,000, study says The federal mental health czar is calling for more money to expand mental health services for people suffering during the coronavirus pandemic.