Patel S P, Gaw A C
Department of Psychiatry, Boston University Medical Center Hospital, Massachusetts, USA.
Psychiatr Serv. 1996 May;47(5):517-21. doi: 10.1176/ps.47.5.517.
Studies of suicide among immigrants from the Indian subcontinent (India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, and Sri Lanka) were examined to increase awareness of suicide risk and to better understand social and psychological factors contributing to suicide in this group.
An online search was conducted of MEDLINE for the years 1966 to 1994 and Psychological Abstracts for the years 1974 to 1994, and all references on completed suicides in the target population were selected for review.
Suicide rates of young women immigrants from the Indian subcontinent are consistently higher than those of their male counterparts and of young women in the indigenous populations of the countries to which they immigrate. Suicide rates among older men in this immigrant group have been reported to be low, although reports are less consistent. Use of violent methods such as hanging, burning, and poisoning is common among both men and women. A disproportionately higher number of immigrant Hindus commit suicide. Family conflict appears to be a precipitating factor in many suicides, whereas mental illness is rarely cited as a cause. Depression, anxiety, and domestic violence may contribute to the high rates. Affective disorders may be underdiagnosed in this population.
More research is needed on the epidemiology of psychiatric illnesses and their contribution to suicide in this group.
对来自印度次大陆（印度、巴基斯坦、孟加拉国和斯里兰卡）的移民自杀情况进行研究，以提高对自杀风险的认识，并更好地理解导致该群体自杀的社会和心理因素。
对1966年至1994年的医学索引数据库（MEDLINE）以及1974年至1994年的心理学文摘数据库进行在线检索，并挑选出所有关于目标人群中自杀既遂的参考文献进行审查。
来自印度次大陆的年轻女性移民的自杀率一直高于同龄男性以及她们所移民国家的本土年轻女性。据报道，该移民群体中老年男性的自杀率较低，不过报道情况不太一致。上吊、焚烧和中毒等暴力自杀方式在男性和女性中都很常见。印度教移民自杀的人数比例过高。家庭冲突似乎是许多自杀事件的诱发因素，而精神疾病很少被提及为自杀原因。抑郁症、焦虑症和家庭暴力可能导致了高自杀率。情感障碍在这一人群中可能未得到充分诊断。
需要对该群体精神疾病的流行病学及其对自杀的影响开展更多研究。
