Self-inflicted burn as a method for suicide at Al- Dewanyea City, is it a common method and what are the characteristics of the victims?

Abstract

Suicide is a very stigmatising condition in Iraq and perceived stigma by the public make recorded data about the subject far from accurate. So researching this interesting phenomenon remains a very important step in evaluating its impact on society in general. The aims of the study were. To compare between numbers of victims of self-inflicted burn with the official police suicide statistics that is recorded each month in the city and to identify the socio-demographic characteristics of the patients in addition to their past psychiatric history.During the year 2018 any patient admitted to the burn centre at al Dewanyea with a suspicion that his/her burn was self-inflicted was asked permission of interview by the researcher. The patients answered questions regarding their socio-demographic profile and motives and were asked if they had previous history of any psychiatric condition.A total of 34 patients admitted of burning themselves during that year while the official police records showed only 6 patients killed themselves using this method in the same time period. More than 88% of the patients had no previous attempt, only 6 patients were known psychiatric patients and in all the cases there was no plan. Half of the sample was of the 20-40 years' age group, females were slightly over represented (about 55% of the sample) and most of the males were single. About 55% of the sample were un employed and 44% of them were illiterate. Only 2 patients survived the burns eventually. Family problems were the most common precipitative factor (in more than 91% of the cases). There is poor registration of suicide numbers using self-burning at al Dewanyea city. Most of the cases had no previous attempts and had no history of mental illness and in all the cases the act was impulsive with no previous plan.Those who burn themselves are most commonly young, illiterate and unemployed.Men were mostly single while women were more commonly married. There was high mortality rate in the sample.