Opinions about and reactions to suicide, and the social acceptance of a suicidal classmate among Turkish high school students

Societal Reactions to Suicide in Ghana

Background: Condemnatory reactions toward suicide are prevalent in Africa, yet no study has examined how society reacts to suicides from the perspective of suicide-bereaved persons. Aims: This qualitative study explored societal reactions to suicides so as to further our understanding of the problem in Ghana. Method: Using a semi-structured interview guide, we interviewed 45 close relations of 14 men who took their lives. Results: The reactions followed ontological questions of what suicide means (construing the act), its impact (consequences), why it happened and who to blame (attributions and allocation of responsibility), and how to remedy perceived damages (damage control). Limitations: Focusing on suicides of only men might have limited the range of societal reactions to suicide in general. Conclusion: Reparative and retributive societal reactions to suicides were influenced predominantly by views that suicide is an extraordinary moral evil in the setting. Increased culturally focused suicide education can improve people's understanding and enhance responsive suicide prevention and postvention.

Suicidal behavior and attitudes among medical students in the United Arab Emirates

BACKGROUND

Few studies have investigated suicidal behavior and attitudes of medical students. We are not aware of any previous reports emerging from the Arab world.

AIMS

To investigate suicidal behavior and attitudes among medical students in the United Arab Emirates (UAE).

METHOD

The prevalence of suicidal ideation and attempts as well as attitudes toward suicide and reactions to a hypothetical suicidal friend were assessed using a self-report survey. Furthermore, the survey included the self-assessment of the current mood and religiosity, and socio-demographic information.

RESULTS

A group of 115 medical students (mean age 20.7 years, 59.1% female) participated in the survey. The prevalence of lifetime suicidal ideation was 17.5% and of suicide attempts 1.8%. In general, students showed very low acceptability of suicide, strong beliefs in the punishment after death, and highly endorsed communicating problems with parents. Moreover, high acceptance of and support for a suicidal friend were found. Sadness was associated with higher acceptability of suicide and fewer beliefs in punishment after death. Religiosity was associated with less acceptability of suicide, seeing suicide in context of mental illness, communicating problems with parents, and greater support for a suicidal friend.

CONCLUSIONS

The prevalence of suicidal ideation and attempts among medical students in the UAE was in the lower range in international comparison. Negative attitudes toward suicide were accompanied by a strong support for a suicidal friend, and both were related to religiosity.

Suicide and islam

Much of the research on suicidal behavior in Muslim countries has been simple descriptive studies of samples of completed and attempted suicides. Despite this, and despite the possible under-reporting of suicidal behavior in countries where such behavior is illegal, suicide rates do appear to be lower in Muslims than in those of other religions, even in countries which have populations belonging to several religious groups. Rates of attempted suicide, on the other hand, do not appear to be lower in Muslims as compared to non-Muslims. Research into this topic has been quite poor, failing to take into account the ethnic background and the Islamic sect to which the suicidal subjects belonged. Reasons for the low rate of completed suicide in Muslims are reviewed, including differences in values and socio-economic status.

THERAPEUTIC AND NONTHERAPEUTIC REACTIONS IN A GROUP OF NURSES AND DOCTORS IN TURKEY TO PATIENTS WHO HAVE ATTEMPTED SUICIDE

In this study a questionnaire was used to investigate the predictors of therapeutic versus nontherapeutic reactions to patients hospitalized for attempting suicide in a group of doctors (n = 158) and in a group of nurses (n = 206) working in the health care system of a small city in the Western part of Turkey. Doctors said that they would react therapeutically towards patients hospitalized for attempting suicide to a greater extent than did nurses, while nurses said that they would engage in nontherapeutic reactions to a greater extent than doctors did. Believing that suicidal problems should be communicated, feeling sympathy for a suicidal patient and not feeling anxiety/fear for a suicidal patient were found to be the independent predictors of therapeutic reactions, while feeling anger about a suicidal patient emerged as an independent predictor of nontherapeutic reactions in both doctors and nurses. The attitudes of nurses towards suicide were more traditional than the attitudes of doctors. Nurses believed to a greater extent than doctors that suicidal people would be punished after death and that suicide in one's family was to be hidden. Doctors, on the other hand, believed to a greater extent than nurses that suicide attempts resulted from illness/biological reasons. Men were found to be more prejudiced about suicide and suicidal individuals than were women.

Respecting autonomy in difficult medical settings: a questionnaire study in Japan

Some people in Japan are still comfortable with the paternalistic role of doctors, but others wish that their own decisions would receive a greater amount of respect. A total of 747 students of universities and colleges and 114 parents of these students participated in a questionnaire survey. Most of the participants thought that autonomy should be respected in situations involving death with dignity and euthanasia, whereas it should not be respected in attempted suicide and involuntary admission of individuals with mental illness. A cluster analysis revealed that the participants could be divided into the following groups: aid in dying advocates (n=577), complete libertarians (n=109), protectors of the mentally ill (n=90), complete paternalists (n=29), and questionables (n=27). The assertion of independence score of the Scale for Independent and Interdependent Construal of the Self showed a significant difference among the 5 clusters. These findings suggest that the traditional paternalistic relationship between doctor and patient is undergoing a gradual transformation in Japan.

The association between attitudes toward suicide and suicidal ideation in adolescents

The aims of this study were to determine whether adolescent attitudes to suicide could be grouped into distinct factors, and then to examine the relationship between these factors and the psychosocial parameters known to be associated with suicide, and between attitudes towards suicide and suicidal ideation. A questionnaire designed to assess attitudes to suicide was distributed to a total of 525 Israeli adolescents. Statistical analysis indicated that the attitude items could be grouped into four distinct factors: the right of society to prevent suicide; suicide as a symptom of mental illness; the right of the individual to talk about suicide; and taking suicidal behaviour seriously. Each factor was differentially associated with the various psychosocial parameters examined. The association between the attitude factors and subjects' suicidal ideation was significant and at least as strong as that of the psychosocial parameters normally associated with adolescent suicide, namely gender and exposure to suicide. A generally approving attitude towards suicide was correlated with a high level of suicidal ideation.

New patterns of suicide by age and gender in the United Kingdom and the Western World 1974-1992; an indicator of social change?

Between 1974 and 1992 male suicide increased in the United Kingdom and in most countries of the Western World. At the same time there were substantial reductions in female suicide in many countries. However, these results mask significant changes related to age in both genders. In most countries there was a disproportionate rise in younger male suicides (< 35 years); with two disproportionate peaks in younger (25-34 years) and elderly (75 + years) female suicides. The implications of these changes are briefly discussed within the context of changing socio-economic expectations.

Adolescents' attitudes toward suicide, and a suicidal peer: a comparison between Swedish and Turkish high school students

The present paper first presents the attitudes toward suicide and a suicidal classmate among 98 female and 69 male (N = 167) Swedish high school students. Secondly, the Swedish sample was compared with 167 (89 female and 78 male) Turkish high school students from a previous study. Among Swedish students, more males than females said that people have the right to commit suicide and suicide can be a solution to some problems. More females than males expressed a belief in life after death. Swedish adolescents were found to be holding more liberal attitudes toward suicide than Turkish adolescents. However, Turkish adolescents showed greater acceptance for a suicidal peer than Swedish adolescents. The results are discussed in terms of socio-cultural factors and related literature. The need for educational programs to provide basic knowledge about suicide and, effective ways of dealing with and helping suicidal peers is implicated.