Suicide and attempted suicide in Sri Lanka

Abstract

The annual figures for deaths from suicide in Sri Lanka greatly exceed the total of sudden deaths to homicide and accidents. A study of the suicide pattern in Sri Lanka indicates that the rate has risen sharply over the past two decades. The rate for the island has surpassed the rates of some Western countries like Britain and the U.S.A. and has approached the higher rates prevalent in several other European countries. This nortable increase in the suicide rate seems to parallel the rapid growth of populations as well as socio-economic transformations and upheavals taking place in our traditional way of life following independence.