Dynamics of suicide in Turkey: an empirical analysis


Akyüz M., Nazlıoğlu Ş., Karul Ç.

EASTERN MEDITERRANEAN HEALTH JOURNAL, cilt.26, ss.1-16, 2020 (SCI-Expanded, SSCI, Scopus)

  • Yayın Türü: Makale / Tam Makale
  • Cilt numarası: 26
  • Basım Tarihi: 2020
  • Doi Numarası: 10.26719/emhj.20.033
  • Dergi Adı: EASTERN MEDITERRANEAN HEALTH JOURNAL
  • Derginin Tarandığı İndeksler: Science Citation Index Expanded (SCI-EXPANDED), Social Sciences Citation Index (SSCI), Scopus, Agricultural & Environmental Science Database, BIOSIS, CAB Abstracts, Child Development & Adolescent Studies, CINAHL, EMBASE, Index Islamicus, MEDLINE, Veterinary Science Database
  • Sayfa Sayıları: ss.1-16
  • Ankara Yıldırım Beyazıt Üniversitesi Adresli: Evet

Özet

Background: Suicide has become a public mental health problem in Turkey, with the number of deaths increasing: in 1974, the suicide rate was 1.92% for males and 1.31% for females; in 2013 this had risen to 6.22% for males and 2.26% for females.

Aims: This study attempts to empirically investigate the behaviour of suicide in Turkey by focusing on sex and cause. We pay special attention to the role of structural shifts in suicide ratios, which may have arisen from the structural changes in Turkish economy during last 2 decades.

Methods: We used time series analysis and employed unit root and stationarity tests for the period 1974–2013.

Results: The results show that disruption to female suicide and suicidal affairs stemmed from economic problems and business failures and has a random walk process. This finding implies that shocks driven by economic issues and shocks toward the female sex have a permanent, long-term impact on suicide.

Conclusions: The implication is that the social administration needs to implement relevant, necessary suicide prevention policies for suicides occurring in the female and economic problems groups.