IS THE RATE OF SUICIDE INCREASING IN

PAKISTAN?

GROUP MEMBERS:Misbah Hemani

Mahrukh SaleemMariyam Khan

Rasheeda SohailSana Jamal

Thursday, April 13, 2023

ALJAZERA VIDEO

DIFFERENCE BETWEEN ATTEMPTED SUICIDE AND

SUICIDE Suicide Attempted suicide

Act of intentionally causing one's own death

Example: Euthanasia Murder–suicide Suicide attack Mass suicide Suicide pact

Failed suicide attempts Some are regarded as

not true attempts at all, but rather par suicide.

Usually attempted to affect another person by the behavior.

STATEMENT OF PURPOSETo map out and analyze the pattern of

SUICIDE AND ATEMPTED SUICIDE IN PAKISTAN using

data provided by Human Rights Commission Pakistan (HRCP) from 2004-2009 and link it to the secondary research

material to better understand this complex social fact.

RESEARCH QUESTIONS RQ1: What is the trend of Suicide Rate in Pakistan?

RQ2: What are the most common reasons for committing suicide?

RQ3: What are the most commonly used methods of suicide?

RQ4: Which socio-demographic characteristics have the highest trend of suicide?

Minorities, Age, Gender Marital Status

CONCEPTUAL FRAMEWORK Essentially Dr. Khan’s work -12 published

Research Papers.Covers Socio Demographics, Causes,

Methods, and Prevention.His studied timeline was 1997-1998.We apply similar conceptual framework to present study.

METHODOLOGYMixed methodology (Qualitative and

Quantitative)

RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

Quantitative• HRCP Data

Qualitative• Secondary

Research

Sample and sampling

• HRCP data from 2004-2009 • In total 10,229 suicides and 6,656 attempted

suicides

Data Collection – Qualitative Studies 20 main studies from :

• Wiley Interscience• Science Direct• Blackwell Synergy• Ebscohost

Data Analysis

• Microsoft Excel for trend analysis • A Secondary Research review of 20

qualitative studies for comparison

SIGNIFICANCE

• Cross verification of both Quantitative and Qualitative findings

• First research on the studied timeline – 2004-2009• First to use HRCP’s statistics on suicide as Primary

data

LIMITATIONS

• Paucity of research from official sources• The source of HRCP statistics are newspaper clippings• Interviews with an NGO working for families of suicide

victims was cancelled due to time constraint.

RESULTS AND DISCUSSION

SUICIDE NARRATIVE Common Wisdom Scholarly Wisdom

Causes –

Unemployment Poverty

General trends- increasing

at an alarming rate (GEO TV)

Causes –

Domestic Problems Unemployment Parental refusal to

marry the person of choice

General trends- Also increasing but not on an alarming rate (MMK)

GENERAL TREND- CLIPPINGS

2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 20090

500

1000

1500

2000

2500

3000SUICIDE

Newspaper Clippings

2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 20090

200

400

600

800

1000

1200

1400

1600

1800

2000ATTEMPTED SUICIDE

Newspaper Clippings

ANALYSIS

57%43%

Newspaper Clippings

Suicide

Attempted Suicide

CAUSES TREND

2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 20090

100

200

300

400

500

600

700

800

900

1000

SUICIDE

IllnessAdmonished Domestic ProblemsExaminationFinancial ProblemMarriage choiceMatrimonial Prob-lemPsychological Prob-lemUnemploymentOthersNA

2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 20090

100

200

300

400

500

600

700

800

900

ATTEMPTED SUICIDE

IllnessAdmonished Domestic ProblemsExaminationFinancial ProblemMarriage choiceMatrimonial Prob-lemPsychological Prob-lemUnemploymentOthersNA

ANALYSISIllness

2%Admon-ished 10%

Domestic Prob-lems42%

Examination1%

Financial Problem

8%

Marriage choice14%

Matri-monial

Problem10%

Psycho-logical

Problem3%

Unem-ployment

4%

Others6%

SUICIDE

Illness1% Admon-

ished 17%

Domestic Problems

51%Exam-ination

0%

Fi-nan-cial

Prob-lem3%

Mar-riage

choice3%

Mat-rimo-nial

Prob-lem12%

Psycho-logical Prob-lem1%

Un-em-ploy-ment8%

Others3%

ATTEMPTED SUICIDE

METHODS- TREND

2004

2006

2008

0

200

400

600

800

1000

1200

SUICIDE

Ablazing ShootingHanging PoisonDrowned Electric ShockSleeping Pills TrainOthers (Stabbing, In-juries, Torturing, Blasts)

NA

2004200520062007200820090

200

400

600

800

1000

1200

1400

1600ATTEMPTED SUICIDE

Ablazing ShootingHanging PoisonDrowned Electric ShockSleeping Pills TrainOthers (Stabbing, Injuries, Torturing, Blasts)

NA

ANALYSIS

4%

10%

12%

62%

4%0%

1%4%4%

SUICIDEAblazing

Shooting

Hanging

Poison

Drowned

Electric Shock

Sleeping Pills

Train

Others (Stabbing, Injuries, Torturing, Blasts)

3%2%1%

88%

2% 1% 3% 1%

ATTEMPTED SUICIDE

Ablazing

Shooting

Hanging

Poison

Drowned

Electric Shock

Sleeping Pills

Train

Others (Stabbing, Injuries, Torturing, Blasts)

MINORITIES TREND

2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 20090

5

10

15

20

25

30

35

40

45

SUICIDE

ChristiansHindus

2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 20090

2

4

6

8

10

12

14

16

ATTEMPTED SUICIDE

ChristiansHindus

ANALYSIS

28%

72%

SUICIDE

ChristiansHindus

43%

57%

ATTEMPTED SUICIDE

ChristiansHindus

AGE TREND

2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 20090

200

400

600

800

1000

1200

1400

SUICIDE

AdultMinor

2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 20090

200

400

600

800

1000

1200

ATTEMPTED SUICIDE

AdultMinor

ANALYSIS

83%

17%

Suicide

AdultMinor

82%

18%

Attempted Suicide

AdultMinor

GENDER TREND

2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 20090

200

400

600

800

1000

1200

1400

1600

1800

SUICIDE

MaleFemale

2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 20090

200

400

600

800

1000

1200

ATTEMPTED SUICIDE

MaleFemale

ANALYSIS

72%

28%

Suicide

MaleFemale

22%

78%

Attempted Suicide

MaleFemale

MARITAL STATUS TREND

2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 20090

100

200

300

400

500

600

700

800

900

SUICIDE

MarriedUnmarriedWidowDivorced

2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 20090

100

200

300

400

500

600

ATTEMPTED SUICIDE

MarriedUnmarriedWidowDivorced

ANALYSIS

85%

12%

2% 2%

Suicide

MarriedUnmarriedWidowDivorced

92%

7%1%

Attempted Suicide

MarriedUnmarriedWidowDivorced

CONLCUSION