Suicide in Bahrain in the Last Decade

ScienceDirect - Crisis: The Journal of Crisis Intervention and Suicide Prevention : Suicide in Bahrain in the Last Decade

Now here is an interesting study of suicide patterns in Bahrain by very senior doctors in Bahrain, one of the Gulf Arab countries. See the abstract below:

"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. "

The differences in the suicide rates between Bahraini's and non Bahrainis/Indians is startling, extremely startling. And definitely, I fully agree on further research being required. The expatriates in the gulf are there to make money, they earn far higher than back home (whether it be India, Pakistan, Philippines, etc. etc.), so having domestic financial problems in Bahrain does not sit very well. And these are young people! Perhaps the Bahraini Human Rights people (who I referenced earlier here could take this up!). As Alice said, "curioser and curioser".


This is the full reference.
Ahmed Al Ansari, Randah R. Hamadeh, Mazin K. Ali and Adel El Offi, Suicide in Bahrain in the Last Decade, Crisis: The Journal of Crisis Intervention and Suicide Prevention, Volume 28, Issue 1, January 2007, Pages 11-15.