Gender Differences in Suicide Methods in Turkey

Suicide, the act of killing oneself intentionally [1-3] is one of the most serious problems in the world. Every year, about 800,000 people die by committing suicide (WHO [World Health Organization], 2016). The global suicide rate is 16 per 100,000 population [4]. As in most countries, death by suicide is also a serious problem in Turkey, which accounts for between 4.6% and 24.3% of deaths annually [5]. Indeed, on average, the suicide rate in Turkey was 4.1 per 100,000 people between 2007 and 2015 (Turkish Statistical Institute (TUIK), 2017). Beyond reasons for suicide and individual tendency for suicide, availability and accessibility of a suicide method is the key factor that leads to translation of suicidal thoughts into suicidal acts [6]. Most importantly, the lethality of chosen suicide method has huge impact on the outcomes of suicidal acts [6-8]. Numerous studies suggest that firearms, hanging, jumping, car exhaust gas, vehicular impact, and drowning are the most lethal suicide methods whereas poisoning/drug overdose, and cutting/piercing are the least lethal suicide methods [9-12].