COVID-19 and the Significant Increase in Suicide Rate in Iran

Subject Areas : Jurisprudence and Criminal Law Doctrines

Mohaddeseh Asgharian ¹ , hasan hajitabar firozjaee ² , Mehdi Esmaeeli ³

1 - Ph.D. student in criminal law and criminology, Ayatollah Amoly Branch, Islamic Azad University, Amoly, Iran
2 - Associate Professor, Department of Law, Faculty of Humanities, Islamic Azad University Qaimshahr Branch, Qaimshahr, Iran
3 - Assistant Professor, Department of Law, Central Tehran Branch, Islamic Azad University, Tehran, Iran.

Received: 2023-05-25 Accepted : 2023-09-10 Published : 2023-09-23

Keywords: suicide factors, suicide and covid-19, suicide and post-covid-19,

Abstract :

Receive Date: 2023/06/25                    Revise Date: 2023/08/29                   Accept Date:  2023/09/10AbstractThe main aim of this research is the recognition of effective causes and factors in increase of suicide and offering approaches in prevention of suicide in period of coivd-19 and post covid-19 in Iran. In this research, the cases of dead people were surveyed in Alborz province in 1400 and information related to suicides was extracted from the forensic medicine files. Researches then contacted with the families to survey the causes of suicide and complete questionnaires to collect the required information. Data was analyzed using descriptive analysis statistics to determine the frequency of causes, risk factors and suicide methods. This results showed that 180 cases out of 260 successful suicides were male and 80 cases were female. The most common suicide age was the third decade of life and most statistics of suicides were among individuals with elementary education. In 38 percent of cases, the cause of suicide was unknown; but where the cause was identified, the most common cause was mental disorders. Overall, hanging with 45.5 percent was the most common method of suicide. The most common method among male was hanging and among female was poison consumption that there was significant relationship between method of suicide and gender. Self-immolation was in high rate in both gender and involved 35 percent of female. The covid-19 pandemic has been significantly associated with increasing suicide rates in Iran, especially between young men and people with lower education. Emphasizes on providing psychological and economic protective programs focused on societies at-risk is necessary in confronting with this worried increase.

References:

1.  آقا بیگلویی، م؛ پژومند، م و توفیقی، ح (1389)، خودکشی در ایران، فصلنامه اصول بهداشت روانی، 12 (3)، 149ـ158.


2. اردبیلی، محمد علی (1386)، حقوق جزای عمومی، تهران، انتشارات میزان.


3. تقوی، م (1339)، خودکشی، مجله روانپزشکی و روانشناسی ایران، 3 (1)، 1ـ15.


4. خلیلی، زهره (1392)، نظریه‌های روان‌شناسی اجتماعی، تهران، انتشارات آوای نور.


5. ربانی، خ (1389)، جامعه‌شناسی انحرافات، تهران، آن.


6. ستوده، ه (۱۳۹۵)، جامعه‌شناسی خودکشی، تهران، انتشارات آگه.


7. Alejos, M, Vázquez-Bourgon, J, Santurtún, M, Riancho, J, & Santurtún, A (2023), Do patients diagnosed with a neurological disease present increased risk of suicide? Neurología (English Edition), 38(1), 41-46.


8. Borowsky, I. W, Resnick, M. D, Ireland, M, & Blum, R. W (1999), Suicide attempts among American Indian and Alaska Native youth: Risk and protective factors. Archives of Pediatrics & Adolescent Medicine, 153(6), 573-580.


9. Brådvik, L (2018), Suicide risk and mental disorders. International journal of environmental research and public health, 15(9), 2028.


10. Dargahi, H & Shaham, G (2020), The neglected health of Iranian physicians during COVID-19 pandemic. BMC Public Health, 20(1), 1-3.


11. Deshpande, C. G (2020), Suicide And Attempted Suicide. Geerwanjyoti Prakashan.


12. Daigle, M. S (2005), Suicide prevention through means restriction: assessing the risk of substitution: a critical review and synthesis. Accident Analysis & Prevention, 37(4), 625-632.


13. De Leo, D (2022), Late-life suicide in an aging world. Nature aging, 2(1), 7-12.


14. Emanuel, E.J (2016), Euthanasia and physician-assisted suicide: focus on the data. Medical care research and review, 73(1), 20-22.


15. Gearing, R. E & Lizardi, D (2009), Religion and suicide. Journal of religion and health, 48, 332-341.


16. Hjelmeland, H & Knizek, B. L (2017), Time to change direction in suicide research. Suicidology Online, 8.


17. Iozzino, L, Ferrari, C, Large, M, Nielssen, O & De Girolamo, G (2015), Prevalence and risk factors of violence by psychiatric acute inpatients: a systematic review and meta-analysis. PloS one, 10(6), e0128536.


18. Janca, E, Keen, C, Willoughby, M, Borschmann, R, Sutherland, G, Kwon, S & Kinner, S. A (2023), Sex differences in suicide, suicidal ideation, and self-harm after release from incarceration: a systematic review and meta-analysis. Social psychiatry and psychiatric epidemiology, 58(3), 355-371.


19. Krysinska, K, Lester, D, De Leo, D, Korczak, D & Walter, G (2019), Gun laws and sudden death: Did the Australian firearms legislation of 1996 reduce firearm related deaths?. World psychiatry, 18(1), 35-39.


20. Mann, J. J, Apter, A, Bertolote, J, Beautrais, A, Currier, D., Haas, A & Mehlum, L (2005), Suicide prevention strategies: a systematic review. Jama, 294(16), 2064-2074.


21. Maris et al (2000), Comprehensive textbook of suicidology. Guilford Press: New York, NY.


22. Mehrdad, R (2009), Health system in Iran. American Journal of Public Health, 99(1), 15–20.


23. Mehrdad, R (2020), Health system in Iran. The Lancet, 395(10225), 737.


24. Nock et al (2008), Cross-national prevalence and risk factors for suicidal ideation, plans and attempts. The British Journal of Psychiatry, 192(2), 98-105.


25. Nock, M. K, Borges, G, Bromet, E. J, Cha, C. B, Kessler, R. C & Lee, S (2008), Suicide and suicidal behavior. Epidemiologic reviews, 30(1), 133.


26. Orbell, J & Morikawa, T (2011), An evolutionary account of suicide attacks: The kamikaze case. Political Psychology, 32(2), 297-322.


27. Rothman, S & Sher, L (2021), Suicide prevention in the covid-19 era. Preventive medicine, 152, 106547.


28. Solano, P, Pizzorno, E, Pompili, M, Serafini, G & Amore, M (2018), Conceptualizations of suicide through time and socio-economic factors: A historical mini-review. Irish Journal of Psychological Medicine, 35(1), 75-86.


29. Wang, C, Tee, M, Roy, A. E, Fardin, M. A, Srichokchatchawan, W, Habib, H. A & Kuruchittham, V (2021), The impact of COVID-19 pandemic on physical and mental health of Asians: A study of seven middle-income countries in Asia. PloS one, 16(2), e0246824.


30. WHO, (2022) WHO coronavirus (COVID-19) dashboard for Iran. (https://covid19.who.int/region/emro/country/ir).