Suicide Among Young Rural Women - 2226 Words

Suicide is a universal phenomenon that has deep and extensive implications for the overall wellbeing of a community. Not only is suicide a tragic personal and societal loss, but suicide rates can also serve as an index of underlying societal problems, such as sources of oppression and lack of social support. Exhibiting several interesting suicide trends, China is a country that provides ample opportunity for investigating the problem of suicide and its causes. There are observed Western patterns of urban, male, and mentally ill populations being at greater risk for suicide—trends that are challenged by the reversed patterns of suicide in China, where â€Å"youth, female gender, and rural residence are a potentially lethal combination†.1 The†¦show more content†¦For example, in Western societies, suicide is 3 times more prevalent in urban than in rural areas2, 3-5 times more prevalent in males than in females when measured through completion rates (though attemp t rates are higher among females)3, and 9 times more often associated with mental illness than not.1 The explanations for these trends draw on psychological and sociological theories: it has been hypothesized that men are more likely than women to use lethal means of attempting suicide, and that the economic hardship, unemployment, and social disintegration that afflict city life make suicide a greater problem in urban than in rural areas.4 In China, however, the trends regarding gender, urban status, and mental health are surprisingly reversed: rural suicides outnumber urban suicides by a 3:1 ratio, female suicides outnumber male suicides by a 3:1 ratio, and as few as 40% of suicides are accompanied by mental illness.5 The Western perspective is accustomed to viewing suicide as intrinsically linked to mental health conditions such as depression, and thus often examines suicide by considering individual psychological factors. However, the unique patterns of suicide seen in China require an examination of suicide not only from a mental health perspective, but also from an anthropological perspective that is sensitive to social stressors, not just