Hostname: page-component-cd9895bd7-jkksz Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-12-22T16:48:42.888Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Suicide and Self-burning Among Indians and West Indians in England and Wales

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  02 January 2018

V. Soni Raleigh  and
R. Balarajan
V. Soni Raleigh*
Affiliation:
Institute of Public Health, University of Surrey, Guildford GU2 5XH
R. Balarajan
Affiliation:
Institute of Public Health, University of Surrey
*
∗Correspondence
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Suicide levels in England and Wales during 1979–83 were low among males from the Indian subcontinent (SMR 73) and significantly high in young Indian women (age-specific ratios 273 and 160 at ages 15–24 and 25–34 respectively). Suicide levels were low in Caribbeans (SMRs 81 and 62 in men and women respectively) and high in East Africans (SMRs 128 and 148 in men and women respectively). The excess in East Africans (most of whom are of Indian origin) was largely confined to younger ages. Immigrant groups had significantly higher rates of suicide by burning, with a ninefold excess among women of Indian origin. The pressures leading to higher suicide levels among young women of Indian origin highlight the need for making appropriate forms of support and counselling available to this community.

Type
Papers
Information
The British Journal of Psychiatry , Volume 161 , Issue 3 , September 1992 , pp. 365 - 368
Copyright
Copyright © 1992 The Royal College of Psychiatrists 

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Adelstein, A. & Maroon, C. (1975) Suicides 1961–74. Population Trends 2. OPCS, London: HMSO.Google Scholar
Adityanjee (1986) Suicide attempts and suicides in India: cross-cultural aspects. International Journal of Social Psychiatry, 32, 64–73.Google Scholar
Bulusu, L. & Alderson, M. (1984) Suicides 1950–82. Population Trends 35. OPCS, London: HMSO.Google Scholar
Burke, A. W. (1976a) Attempted suicide among Asian immigrants in Birmingham. British Journal of Psychiatry, 128, 528–533.Google Scholar
Burke, A. W. (1976b) Socio-cultural determinants of attempted suicide among West Indians in Birmingham: ethnic origin and immigrant status. British Journal of Psychiatry, 129, 261–266.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Carpenter, L. & Brockington, I. F. (1980) A study of mental illness in Asians, West Indians and Africans living in Manchester. British Journal of Psychiatry, 137, 201–205.Google Scholar
Cheetham, R. W. S., Edwards, S. D., Naidoo, L. R., et al (1983) Deculturation as a precipitant of parasiticide in an Asian group. Sa Mediese Tydskrif Deel, 63, 942–945.Google Scholar
Cochrane, R. (1977) Mental illness in immigrants to England and Wales: an analysis of mental hospital admissions. Social Psychiatry, 12, 25–35.Google Scholar
Cochrane, R. & Stopes-Roe, M. (1981) Psychological symptom levels in Indian immigrants to England – a comparison with native English. Psychological Medicine, 11, 319–327.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Dean, G., Walsh, D., Downing, H., et al (1981) First admissions of native-born and immigrants to psychiatric hospitals in south-east England 1976. British Journal of Psychiatry, 139, 506–512.Google Scholar
Gehlot, P. S. & Nathawat, S. S. (1983) Suicide and family constellation in India. American Journal of Psychotherapy, 37, 273–278.Google Scholar
Halsey, A. H. (ed.) (1988) British Social Trends Since 1900: A Guide to the Changing Social Structure of Britain. Basingstoke: Macmillan Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Haynes, R. H. (1984) Suicide in Fiji: a preliminary study. British Journal of Psychiatry, 149, 433–438.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kok, L. P. (1988) Race, religion and female suicide attempters in Singapore. Social Psychiatry & Psychiatric Epidemiology, 23, 236–239.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Kua, E. H. & Tsoi, W. F. (1985) Suicide in the island of Singapore. Acta Psychiatrica Scandinavica, 71, 227–229.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Lockhart, S. P. & Baron, J. H. (1987) Changing ethnic and social characteristics of patients admitted for self-poisoning in West London during 1971/2 and 1983/4. Journal of the Royal Society of Medicine, 80, 145–148.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
London, M. (1986) Mental illness among immigrant minorities in the United Kingdom. British Journal of Psychiatry, 149, 265–273.Google Scholar
Maniam, T. (1988) Suicide and parasiticide in a hill resort in Malaysia. British Journal of Psychiatry, 153, 222–225.Google Scholar
Marmot, M. G., Adelstein, A. M. & Bulusu, L. (1984) Immigrant Mortality in England and Wales 1970–78. Studies on Medical and Population Subjects No. 47. OPCS. London: HMSO.Google Scholar
McClure, G. M. G. (1987) Suicide in England and Wales, 1975–1984. British Journal of Psychiatry, 150, 309–314.Google Scholar
Merrill, J. & Owens, J. (1986) Ethnic differences in self-poisoning: a comparison of Asian and White groups. British Journal of Psychiatry, 148, 708–712.Google Scholar
Merrill, J. & Owens, J. (1987) Ethnic differences in self-poisoning: a comparison of West Indian and White groups. British Journal of Psychiatry, 150, 765–768.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Pillay, A. L. (1987) Factors precipitating parasuicide among young South African Indians. Psychological Reports, 61, 545–546.Google Scholar
Population Statistics Division, OPCS (1986) Estimating the Size of the Ethnic Minority Populations. Population Trends 44, OPCS. London: HMSO.Google Scholar
Shaw, C. (1988) Components of Growth in the Ethnic Minority Population. Population Trends 52. OPCS. London: HMSO.Google Scholar
Soni Raleigh, V., Bulusu, L. & Balarajan, R. (1990) Suicides among immigrants from the Indian subcontinent. British Journal of Psychiatry, 156, 46–50.Google Scholar
Submit a response

eLetters

No eLetters have been published for this article.