THERE has been a worrying increase in suicides in Bahrain recently. No suicide can be fully understood. Indeed the incomprehensibility of the act accounts for one of its most devastating effects. Families of victims search for answers and find none. Steps, however, can be taken to prevent people at risk from considering suicide to be their only recourse.
It is more common among certain groups. Policymakers should follow the data to ensure that suicide prevention targets those most in need. The recent rise is driven largely by deaths among men, who make up three quarters of those who kill themselves, with males in their 40s particularly vulnerable. While every suicide represents the culmination of a different, complex and tragic story, traits recur. Most male victims come from poor backgrounds, do not own a car, are too dependent on alcohol or have gone through a marital breakdown. Some are disinclined to seek help. Men are less likely than women to consider therapy.
Better co-ordination between government and health and social services would help to ensure that this latest increase does not mark the start of a new trend.
Steps should also be taken to improve well-being at work, given Bahrain’s culture of lengthy working hours. Case-by-case, suicides often elude explanation. Yet effective ways of tackling the problem are very much within reach.
&uuid=(email))