Suicide in Bahrain in the Last Decade
Abstract
Abstract. A combination of social, legal, and religious factors make reporting of suicide difficult in Bahrain, an Islamic country. Limited available data indicates a very low incidence rate of 3 per 100,000. The objective of the present study was to describe the pattern of suicide in Bahrain during a 10-year period. The registered suicide cases (N = 304) at the Ministry of Interior for the 10-year period from 1995 to 2004 were reviewed and analyzed. The mean suicide rate was 0.6 per 100,000 for the Bahraini nationals and 12.6 per 100,000 for the non-Bahrainis with and 17.7 per 100,000 for the Indian migrants. Men were six times more likely than women to commit suicide. The majority of the subjects were under 35 years of age with financial domestic problems being the most common reason reported in the record and hanging the mostly commonly used mode of suicide (92.8%). The suicide rate for the Bahraini population remains low compared to other countries. The higher rate of suicide among Indians merits further investigation. Moreover, more research is needed on the epidemiology of suicide risk factors in ethnic groups for further prevention and intervention.
References
(1997). Overdose among Bahraini adolescents and young adults: Psychosocial correlates. The Arab Journal of Psychiatry, 8, 115–124
(2001). Risk factors associated with overdose among Bahraini youth. Suicide and Life-Threatening Behavior, 31, 197–206
(2001). Suicide in response to changing societies. Child and Adolescent Psychiatric Clinic of North America, 10, 777–795
(2005). The world fact book. (www.cia.gov/cia/publication/factory/geos/ba.htm)
(2002). Pesticide poisoning in the developing world - A minimum pesticides list. The Lancet, 360, 1163–1167
(1983). A way of dying: Suicide in Singapore - Kuala Lumpur. Malaysia: Oxford University Press
(2006). Public Information notice No. 04/96 - August 24, 2006 (www.inf.org)
(2000). Family murder suicide in Kerala. Crisis, 21, 105–107
(2000). The pattern of suicide in Pakistan. Crisis, 21, 31–35
(2004). Trends and dynamics of youth suicides in developing countries. The Lancet, 363, 1090–
(2003). Trends in mortality from suicide, 1965-1999. Acta Psychiatrica Scandinavica, 108, 341–349
(1987). Suicide in England and Wales 1975-84: Mode of death. British Journal of Psychiatry, 150, 309–314
(1986). Early recognition and prevention of attempted suicide in primary health care. Bahrain Medical Bulletin, 9(1), 12–17
(2004). Health Statistics, 2004. Bahrain: Author
(1992). Suicide behavior in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. In Kok lee Peng and Wen-Shing Tseng (Eds.), Suicide behavior in the Asia-Pacific region (pp. 144-175). Singapore: Singapore University Press
(1999). Methods used for suicide vary between regions in the developing world. British Medical Journal, 318, 259–260
(2002). Suicide rate in China, 1995-1999. Lancet, 359, 835–40
(1998). Suicide in countries and areas of the Escap region. Asia-Pacific Population Journal, 13(4), 1–16
(1995). Loving bliss to curb divorce. Gulf Daily News, 28 No. 263, Dec. 2005,
(2004). Accessed in December 2004. under www.uis.unesco.org. Montreal: UNESCO, Institute for Statistics
(1994). Impact of availability, attraction and lethality of suicide methods on suicide rates in Germany. Acta psychiatrica scandinavica, 88, 364–368
(1999). Figures and facts about suicide (WHO/MNH/MBD/99.1-WHO). Geneva: Author
(2004a). Mental health atlas - Revised edition 2004. Geneva: Author
(2004b). World health report 2004: Changing history. Geneva: Author
