Incidence of note-leaving remains constant despite increasing suicide rates

Authors: SHIOIRI TOSHIKI; NISHIMURA AKIYOSHI¹; AKAZAWA KOHEI²; ABE RYO³; NUSHIDA HIDEYUKI⁴; UENO YASUHIRO⁴; KOJIKA-MARUYAMA MAKI³; SOMEYA TOSHIYUKI³

Source: Psychiatry and Clinical Neurosciences, Volume 59, Number 2, April 2005 , pp. 226-228(3)

Publisher: Wiley-Blackwell

Abstract:

Suicide notes (SN) are potentially valuable sources of information about the psychological states of the suicidal person. It was hypothesized that there was a significant relation between suicide rate and note-leaving rate and that the incidence of note-leaving was increased during prolonged economic recession. During 21 years (1981–2001) in Kobe, of a total of 18 558 violent deaths, 5161 were due to suicide (27.8%), with 3417 male cases (66.2%) and 1754 female cases (33.8%). For each year the annual suicide rates and note-leaving rates were calculated, and this represents the percentage of committed suicides in which SN were left, among all suicide victims. In spite of the prolonged economic slump, the note-leaving rate remained almost constant (23.4–36.2%). Pearson's correlation coefficient showed no significant correlation between suicide rate and note-leaving rates (r = 0.27, P = 0.23). The finding that the incidence of note-leaving remains constant despite increasing suicide rates may suggest that the reasons for suicide do not affect note-leaving. There are cross-cultural, ethnic, and racial variations in suicidal behaviors. Although this finding may be specific in Japan, further studies of SN are needed to help clarify the suicidal states of mind.

Keywords: note-leaving; suicide note; suicide rate

Document Type: Short communication

DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1440-1819.2005.01364.x

Affiliations: 1: Department of Legal Medicine, Yokohama City University School of Medicine, Yokohama and 2: Department of Information Science and Biostatistics, Niigata University Graduate School of Medical and Dental Sciences, Niigata, 3: Department of Psychiatry, Niigata University Graduate School of Medical and Dental Sciences, Niigata and 4: Department of Legal Medicine, Kobe University Graduate School of Medicine, Kobe, Japan

Publication date: 2005-04-01

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