Suicide is a global scourge that threatens public health and constitutes a frightening concern, especially with its increasing rates among young people (the fourth cause of death for those between the ages of 15 and 29 years).
High mortality rates due to suicide pose an obstacle to achieving the 2030 Sustainable Development Goals, specifically Goal 3, which states “to reduce premature deaths from non-communicable diseases by one third through prevention, treatment and promotion of mental health and well-being by 2030.”
In this context, this research paper deals with the phenomenon of suicide in detail through a number of axes :
First: definition of suicide and its types
Second: Groups at risk of suicide and the methods used
Third: indicators and rates of suicide globally
Fourth: the phenomenon of suicide in Egypt
Fifth: the Egyptian state’s efforts to reduce suicides Sixth: recommendations
First: Definition of suicide and its types
Suicide can be defined as killing oneself (a person killing himself consciously or unconsciously, or the act that involves a person intentionally causing his own death, while the World Health Organization defines suicide as the act of killing oneself intentionally).
There are several classifications regarding the types of suicide of the French scientist ” Emile Durkheim” :
1-selfish suicide : It is caused by an individual’s feeling of separation from society, the presence of special problems such as separation from a loved one or the death of a loved one .
2-suicide to please others: Suicide of patients, widows, terrorists and others.
3-suicide due to lack of authority in society and the state Such as financial and economic crises and wars that cause a rift in the social system.
4-fatalistic suicide : Due to excessive repression and lack of hope for the future, such as the mass suicide of some tribes and groups.
Second: Groups at risk of suicide and the methods used
The World Health Organization confirms that there is a close connection between suicide and mental disorders, especially in countries with high incomes among alcoholics.
Some people also resort to suicide due to some financial and social crises such as divorce, pain, and chronic diseases
The international organization also explained that there is a strong link between conflicts, disasters, violence, abuse, or loss of loved ones, and feelings of isolation with suicidal behavior. Suicide rates are high among vulnerable groups who suffer from discrimination, such as refugees, migrants, indigenous peoples and prisoners.
It also confirmed that about 20% of global suicide cases are due to pesticide poisoning, most of which occur in rural agricultural areas in low- and middle-income countries, in addition to other common suicide methods such as hanging or firing gunshots.
Third: Global suicide indicators and rates
Although collecting accurate data on suicide rates worldwide faces many challenges, WHO provides figures that indicate the extent of the suicide problem worldwide, as rates vary between countries and regions, and also vary between males and females.
Some of the organization’s most notable statistics include:
1-the number of people who die annually due to suicide is estimated at 703 thousand people.
2-more than 79% of global suicides in 2019 occurred in low-and middle-income countries.
3-suicide ranked fourth among the leading causes of death in the category of young people between the ages of 15 to 29, after road accidents, tuberculosis and interpersonal violence.
4- Only 80 countries have good data on civil registration by which suicide rates can be estimated.
5-the number of males who die by suicide is more than twice as many as the number of females
(12.6 out of every 000-100 males compared to 5.4 out of every 000-100 females).
6. Suicide rates among men are generally higher in high-income countries (16.5 out of every 000 100)
7-for females, the highest suicide rates are recorded in the countries of the lower middle income segment
(7.1 out of every 0000 100).
8. Suicide rates in the OIC regions of Africa (11.2 per 000 100), Europe (10.5 per 000 100) and South-East Asia (10.2 per 000 100) were higher than the global average (9 per 000 100) in 2019, while the lowest suicide rate was recorded in the eastern Mediterranean region (6.4 per 000 100).
9-suicide rates recorded a decrease during the twenty years from 2000 to 2019, where the global rate decreased by 36% and the decline ranged from 17% in the eastern Mediterranean region to 47% in Europe and 49% in the western Pacific region, but suicide rates increased by 17% during the same period in the Americas region.
10-pesticide poisoning causes 20% of all suicides
11-for some countries of Southern Africa and Eastern Europe, the estimated suicide rates are high, with annual deaths exceeding 15 per 100 thousand people.
Meanwhile, for other countries of Europe, South America and Asia, the estimated suicide rates are lower, with annual deaths less than 10 per 100 thousand people.
12- The World Health Organization explained that the countries with the highest suicide rates in the world in 2019 were India, China, the United States of America, Pakistan, Nigeria, Brazil, Bangladesh, Russia, and Mexico.
13- Some major countries have recorded record numbers in suicide rates, such as the United States of America, Japan, Brazil, and South Korea, especially in the age group of 25-34 years.
14-according to the data of the International Organization, Jordan, Syria, Venezuela, Honduras and the Philippines are among the lowest countries in the number of suicides.
On the other hand, the indicators of the International Association for Suicide Prevention have shown the following :
1-more than half (58%) of all deaths due to suicide occur before the age of 50 years.
2. Suicides in all regions of the world, however, more than (77%) of global suicides in 2019occurred in low-and middle-income countries.
-3- (20%) of all suicides are the result of pesticide ingestion, especially in rural agricultural environments, and hanging and firearms are also common methods of suicide
4- suicide is still illegal in more than 20 countries, while people who engage in suicidal behavior may be punished in some countries, including legal penalties ranging from a small fine or a short prison sentence to life imprisonment.
Fourth: Suicide in Egypt
A study conducted by the National Center for social and criminal research showed that the causes of suicide in Egypt :
– Social reasons: include family disputes and pressures after divorce, ill-treatment from the family, infidelity of the husband, marital violence, refusal to divorce the wife and involvement in an illicit relationship, being raped and resulting in pregnancy, the presence of a romantic relationship and the family’s refusal to marry the girl.
– Acute psychopathological causes: including depression, feeling of loss after the death of the father, and severe sadness after the death of the mother.
– Educational difficulties: which cause individuals to feel a sense of failure and frustration and expose them to bullying .
– Economic reasons: include unemployment, financial hardship, accumulation of debt.
The study also pointed out that unofficial figures confirm the high suicide rates in Egypt over the past few years, while there are no official statistics on suicide in Egypt, which explains the limited registration of the percentage of suicides, as according to popular culture, the family of the suicide is stigmatized and the family always works to deny and disavow it.
– It should also be noted that according to the data of the central agency for mobilization and statistics, the number of suicides in 2018 amounted to 89 people, 66 males and 23 females, while the number of suicides decreased in 2019, as Egypt witnessed 75 confirmed suicides, 54 of them men, and 21 suicides of women, and the number of suicides jumped in 2020 to 101 suicides, of which 74 men decided to end his life, compared to the suicide of 27 women, while The data of the central agency for mobilization and statistics showed that over the past three years, the most suicidal age groups were young people, especially those in the second and third decades of their lives.
– Also, data from a study prepared by the secretariat of mental health and addiction treatment at the Ministry of Health showed that 29.2% of Secondary School students suffer from psychological problems, and 21.7% of them are thinking of suicide, while Egypt witnessed 2,584 suicides during 2021, according to a statistic issued by the Attorney General’s office
Fifth: the Egyptian state’s efforts to reduce suicides
1-Al-Azhar Al-Sharif launched the “you are precious to US ” initiative, which aims to provide self-support to young people and help them solve problems and face challenges that make them think about getting rid of their lives
2-the establishment of the first government clinic to be opened to face the problem of suicide.
3-launching a hotline to communicate with specialists to get help or advice in case of problems and challenges that lead to a person to get rid of his life.
4-the announcement of the psychological and emergency support hotline and psychological consultations of the general secretariat of mental health at the Ministry of Health and population to receive inquiries and psychological support and support those wishing to commit suicide, which is the number 08008880700 from any landline.
The National Council for mental health has launched a hotline to receive psychological inquiries, which is number 20818102 .
The Al-Azhar Center for e-fatwas has launched a number of awareness campaigns on its official pages via social networking sites to warn against the phenomenon of suicide, the development of religious awareness among young people, and the warning of electronic games that lead to suicide such as the Blue Whale and other destructive games.
Sixth: recommendations
Of course, more efforts can be made to confront the phenomenon of suicide in Egypt, which can be summarized as follows :
1-developing a national strategy at the level of the relevant state institutions to combat suicide.
2-launching a national campaign through the media and social media about the risk of suicide.
3-expanding the establishment of therapeutic institutions, especially those concerned with psychological and social intervention in order to improve mental health.
4-increasing the treatment programs for personality disorders and mental illnesses.
5-increasing awareness of the nature of mental illnesses and their danger to the health of individuals and the danger of social stigma, which may be an obstacle for the patient to seek help and treatment.
6-providing an accurate and detailed database on the number of suicides and their motives in order to develop the necessary measures to eliminate this phenomenon.
7-increasing the number of field and scientific researches dealing with the phenomenon of suicide and its motives to identify the causes of the phenomenon and its treatment.
8-spreading the culture of hope and optimism through dramatic works, and directing religious institutions to spread the culture of love of life and acceptance of the other while strengthening the religious consciousness among young people and raising awareness that suicide is one of the major sins.
9-raising awareness among parents of the importance of following the behavior of their children, which allows early detection of any of the signs or indications of the son’s resort to suicide
