Citation

Loredo J, Manalai P. J. Med. Trop. 2014; 16(2): 109-110.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2014, University of Jos)

DOI

unavailable

PMID

unavailable

Abstract

Suicide is a major public health concern in Afghanistan. However, in spite of substantial anecdotal reports of suicide incidences in the country, suicidal behavior (ideation, attempts, and completed suicide) has not been studied systematically in Afghanistan. Most of the data come from media reports. Such reports are inherently biased; most recent reports indicate that overwhelming majority of completed suicide are females (95%). Such observations are in stark contrast with what is seen globally and what was reported in 1960s in Afghanistan. We present a case of an Afghan man surviving a suicide attempt to highlight the underreporting of suicide and suicidal behavior in Afghanistan. We conclude that the Afghan people need international support to develop research strategies and devise suicide prevention methods to address the problem of suicide in Afghanistan.

KEYWORDS: Afghan, Afghanistan, suicide, suicidality

Language: en