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Impact of religious feast days on youth suicide attempts in Istanbul, Turkey

Einfluss der religiösen Festtage auf die Suizidversuche von Jugendlichen in Istanbul, Türkei

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Abstract

Background

Suicidal behaviour is related to psychosocial and biological factors. Although suicide is strictly forbidden by the Islamic faith, there are non-confirmed observations of increased suicidality on religious feast days. The objective of the present study was to find out if suicide attempts of youths living in Istanbul increase on religious feast days compared to ordinary and non-religious holidays.

Methods

We retrospectively analyzed all suicide attempts (N = 2,232) of young people up to 25 years of age seeking support at various hospitals in Istanbul in 2010. The main hypothesis was that the number of suicide attempts would increase during religious feast days.

Results

The number of suicide attempts was higher on religious feast days and non-religious holidays except for New Year’s Day and International Labour Day than the daily average number of the actual months. Like on ordinary days, more female than male youth (84.9 % vs. 15.1 %) attempted suicide on feast days.

Conclusion

We speculate that changes of the daily rhythm and increased family interaction on feast days and non-religious holidays could lead to unexpected confrontations and disputes instead of the expected positive family climate. This “Broken-Promise Effect” and changes of the daily rhythm could contribute to the observed increased suicidal behaviour.

Zusammenfassung

Hintergrund

Suizidales Verhalten wird von psychosozialen und biologischen Faktoren beeinflusst. Obwohl Suizid im islamischen Glauben verboten ist, gibt es Berichte, dass suizidales Verhalten an religiösen Festtagen vermehrt auftritt. Das Ziel der vorliegenden Studie war, herauszufinden, ob Jugendliche in Istanbul häufiger Suizidversuche an religiösen Festtagen im Vergleich zu regulären Tagen und nicht-religiösen Feiertagen unternehmen.

Methoden

Wir analysierten retrospektiv alle Suizidversuche (N = 2.232) von Jugendlichen bis zu 25. Lebensjahren, die nach einem Suizidversuch in verschiedenen Krankenhäusern in Istanbul im Jahr 2010 behandelt wurden. Die Haupthypothese war, dass die Zahl der Suizidversuche an religiösen Festtagen erhöht ist.

Ergebnisse

Die Zahl der Suizidversuche war an religiösen und nicht-religiösen Feiertagen ausgenommen zu Neujahr und am Tag der Arbeit höher als die durchschnittliche Zahl der Suizidversuche an regulären Tagen des aktuellen Monats. Sowohl im regulären Alltag als auch an Festtagen unternahmen mehr weibliche als männliche Jugendliche (84,9 % vs. 15,1 %) einen Suizidversuch.

Schlussfolgerung

Wir vermuten, dass Veränderungen im Tagesrhythmus und die erhöhten Familieninteraktionen an religiösen Festtagen und nicht religiösen Feiertagen statt des erwarteten positiven familiären Austausches zu unerwarteten Konflikten und Auseinandersetzungen führen. Dieser “Broken-Promise Effect” und die Veränderungen im Tagesrhythmus könnten zum erhöhten Suizidverhalten beitragen.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Outpatient Clinic of Transcultural Psychiatry and Migration Induced Disorders in Childhood and Adolescence, Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Medical University of Vienna, Währinger Gürtel 18–20, 1090, Vienna, Austria

    Türkan Akkaya-Kalayci & Zeliha Özlü-Erkilic

  2. Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Medical University of Vienna, Währinger Gürtel 18–20, 1090, Vienna, Austria

    Christian Popow

  3. Department of Epidemiology, Medical University of Vienna, Kinderspitalgasse 15/I, 1090, Vienna, Austria

    Thomas Waldhör

Authors
  1. Türkan Akkaya-Kalayci
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  2. Christian Popow
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  3. Thomas Waldhör
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  4. Zeliha Özlü-Erkilic
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Correspondence to Türkan Akkaya-Kalayci.

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Akkaya-Kalayci, T., Popow, C., Waldhör, T. et al. Impact of religious feast days on youth suicide attempts in Istanbul, Turkey. Neuropsychiatr 29, 120–124 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s40211-015-0147-9

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s40211-015-0147-9

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