JEDDAH: Suicide cases among Saudis and foreigners in the Kingdom are on the rise. According to local press reports, 596 people reportedly ended their lives in 2007 alone. The Eastern Province, which has a huge concentration of guest workers, reported the largest number of 239 cases, which is 40 percent of the total.
The province of Riyadh comes second with 152 cases and Qassim third with 50 cases, according to one report. In the southern Asir, 47 cases were reported in 2007. Al-Baha and Taif had the lowest number of cases, the report added, while Madinah had 16 suicides, Jizan 14, Al-Jouf 13, Tabuk 11, Najran 10 and Hail 9.
At least one million people commit suicide across the world annually. “The number of people died of suicide exceeds the number of those dying as a result of wars,” one official said. In the last 45 years suicide rates have increased by 60 percent worldwide, according to the World Health Organization.
Suicide is now among the three leading causes of death among those aged 15-44 years (both sexes). These figures do not include suicide attempts, which are up to 20 times more frequent.
Although traditionally suicide rates have been the highest among the male elderly, rates among young people have been increasing to such an extent that they now form the high risk group in one-third of both developed and developing countries, the WHO said.
Mental disorders (particularly depression and substance abuse) are associated with more than 90 percent of all cases of suicide. However, socioeconomic, family and individual crisis situations (example: loss of a loved one, employment, honor) often encourage people to end their lives.
Salim, a young Saudi man, said he attempted to commit suicide when his father threatened him to punish after he visited his divorced mother. “The continuous fighting between my mother and father that ended up in divorce destroyed me mentally, especially when my father prevented me from seeing or contacting my mother,” he said.
One day when Salim’s father was away from the Kingdom, he took the opportunity to see his mother. Somehow, his father knew about it and threatened him of tough punishment when he comes back.
“I then thought of committing suicide to escape the punishment.” He took Clorox to end his life but his grandmother knew about it and saved him.
Shadiya, a 20-year-old Saudi woman, was facing a similar social circumstance when she decided to commit suicide.
“My father forced me to marry a person who was very old. I was against that marriage but my father gave me a deaf ear,” she said.
Shadiya tried to convince her father with the help of her brothers and relatives but all their efforts went in vein. She said she had nightmarish feelings everyday approaching her marriage and felt that death was better than life with an old man.
“I knew that committing suicide is prohibited in Islam and that those commit suicide would get tough punishment on the Day of Judgment,” Shadiya said. “I had taken some tablets to end my life but by the Grace of God I did not die. My suicide attempt changed my father’s view.”
Adbat Al-Subaie, a psychologist at Balasmar Hospital, said people attempt suicide for many reasons, especially disappointment and depression.
“Lack of faith in God and an un-Islamic lifestyle, including use of drugs and alcohol, push people to commit suicide,” he said.
