Suicide and mental disorders in Asia.
Sixty one percent of the suicides in the world occur in Asia. The suicide rate of Asia has been calculated as 12.6/100,000. This is an underestimate as data is unavailable for 20.7% of the Asian population. Population-based studies on suicide in Asia reveal that 68-97% had diagnosable psychiatric disorders. Only 35-40% of suicides in India and China received the diagnosis of depression. The association between depression and suicide is less pronounced in Asia. Demographic and socio-cultural risk factors for suicide in Asia are different from Western countries but clinical factors appear to be more similar than different. Suicide is a major public and mental health problem in Asia and there is an urgent need to develop effective national suicide prevention strategy in Asian countries.
Vijayakumar
Lakshmi
L
Voluntary Health Services, Chennai, India. dr_svk@vsnl.com
D000437:Alcoholism / Q000453:epidemiology; D001208:Asia / Q000453:epidemiology; D006801:Humans; D001523:Mental Disorders / Q000453:epidemiology*; D019964:Mood Disorders / Q000453:epidemiology; D010554:Personality Disorders / Q000453:epidemiology; D012559:Schizophrenia / Q000453:epidemiology; D013405:Suicide / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*