The Effect of Earthquakes on the Risk of Suicide

Risk Factors for Suicidal Behaviours after Natural Disasters: A Systematic Review

“…The factors responsible for suicide attempts after the disasters were found to include: age, gender, PTSD, suffering from serious psychiatric disorders before the disaster, depression, damages to the homes or the properties, injuries occurring to the person/the family/the relatives, race, economic status, pre-disaster physical incapacity, unemployment, loss of family members, lack of post-disaster recovery services, religion, low social support, low education and the number of the victims. Gender (female in most studies) was introduced as the most frequent factor in 14 articles ( 10 , 14 , 21 , 22 , 24 – 33 ). The next major risk factor was found to be ‘the incidence of serious pre-disaster mental disorders’ being mentioned in 10 studies ( 10 , 14 , 19 , 21 , 31 , 33 – 37 ).…”

“…Gender (female in most studies) was introduced as the most frequent factor in 14 articles ( 10 , 14 , 21 , 22 , 24 – 33 ). The next major risk factor was found to be ‘the incidence of serious pre-disaster mental disorders’ being mentioned in 10 studies ( 10 , 14 , 19 , 21 , 31 , 33 – 37 ).…”

“…The other common risk factors included age ( 10 , 22 , 23 , 26 , 27 , 31 , 38 , 39 ), low social support ( 17 , 21 , 26 – 28 , 33 , 34 , 36 ) and injury to the person, his family or the relatives ( 14 , 21 , 30 , 31 , 37 , 40 , 41 ), mentioned in nine, eight and seven studies, respectively. Depression was studied in six articles ( 10 , 26 – 28 , 30 , 33 ), PTSD in six articles ( 26 – 28 , 31 , 32 , 42 ), economic status ( 20 , 21 , 26 , 39 ), and loss of family and relatives, each in four articles ( 28 , 30 , 31 , 34 ), damages to the homes and the properties ( 30 , 37 , 38 ), and lack of recovery services, each in three articles ( 25 , 26 , 39 ), unemployment, ( 19 , 39 ) low education ( 26 , 31 ), and the number of victims in two articles each ( 22 , 30 ), and, finally, race (…”

Crisis Counselors’ Perceptions and Assessment of Suicidal Behavior Among Hurricane Survivors Receiving Crisis Counseling Services

“…This is consistent with previous studies of other disaster survivors finding a theme of hopelessness among those affected. 25,28 Counselors also frequently mentioned that clients with suicidal ideation often had symptoms of PTSD. Clients with suicidal thoughts scored significantly higher on SPRINT-E items indicating their reactions to the disasters were interfering with both their personal and professional lives as well as causing substantial distress.…”

The Impact of Natural Disasters on Suicide in the United States, 2003–2015

“…Depression and anxiety, both predictors of suicide, have been linked to occurrences of natural disasters such as hurricanes and tsunamis (Larrance, Anastario, & Lawry, 2007;van Griensven et al, 2006;Weisler, Barbee, & Townsend, 2006), tornadoes (Godleski 1997), and wildfires (Finlay, Moffat, Gazzard, Baker, & Murray, 2012;Papanikolaou, Adamis, Mellon, & Prodromitis, 2011). However, the literature evaluating the potential association between natural disaster exposure and suicide has been inconsistent (Bromet & Dew 1995;Kõlves, Milner, McKay, & De Leo, 2012;Krug et al 1998;Krug et al, 1999;Rezaeian, 2008) and has mostly been limited to specific geographic regions or specific disaster events such as earthquakes (Akbiyik, Coskun, Sümbüloglu, Tugcu, & Sayil, 2004;Chou et al, 2003;Matsubayashi, Sawada, & Ueda, 2013;Nishio et al, 2009;Shoaf, Bourque, Giangreco, & Weiss, 2004;Xu et al 2018;Yang, Xirasagar, Chung, Huang, & Lin, 2005), hurricanes (Berggren & Curiel, 2006;Castellanos, Perez, Lewis, & Shaw, 2003;Larrance et al, 2007;Sauna, 2016), tsunamis (Rodrigo, McQuillin, & Pimm 2009), and floods or droughts (De Leo, Too, Kõlves, Milner, & Ide, 2013;Parida, Dash, Bhardwaj, & Chowdhury, 2018). These inconsistencies have led to calls for more epidemiological studies to clarify potential associations between exposure to disasters, mental health sequelae, and suicide (Rezaeian, 2013) to better understand the role that exposure to more frequent and severe disasters may play in an overall increasing adult suicide rates in the United States (Sullivan, Annest, Luo, Simon, & Dahlberg, 2013).…”