Why Are So Many Nepali Women Killing Themselves? A Review Of Key Issues

Authors

  • P Simkhada International Public Health, Centre for Public Health, Liverpool John Moores University UK
  • E Van Teijlingen Manmohan Memorial Institute of Health Sciences (MMIHS)
  • R C Winter ScHARR University of Sheffield UK
  • C Fanning Green Tara Trust
  • A Dhungel Green Tara Nepal
  • S B Marahatta Department of Community Medicine, Manmohan Memorial Medical College

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.3126/jmmihs.v1i4.12001

Keywords:

Mental health, Suicide, Stigma, Violence and abuse

Abstract

For decades the maternal mortality in Nepal was the lead cause of death among women, with serious improvements in the maternal mortality ratio in the twentieth century the second most common cause has become more prominent. Suicide is now one of the leading causes of death for women of a reproductive age in Nepal. This scoping review brings together the key available literature to identify the causes of suicide among women in Nepal. Published and unpublished studies and the grey literature published on women and suicide related to Nepal between 2000 and 2014 were searched and included in this review. This review suggested a number of explanations for high rate of suicide among women including: partner violence, alcoholism and polygamy, the culture of silence, early age marriage and prolonged child bearing and dependency on men for financial security.

This paper highlights some challenges and suggests ways forward in the improvement of mental health in Nepal.

DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.3126/jmmihs.v1i4.12001

Journal of Manmohan Memorial Institute of Health Sciences

Vol. 1, Issue 4, 2015

Page: 43-49

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Author Biographies

P Simkhada, International Public Health, Centre for Public Health, Liverpool John Moores University UK

Professor

E Van Teijlingen, Manmohan Memorial Institute of Health Sciences (MMIHS)

Visiting Professor

R C Winter, ScHARR University of Sheffield UK

Ph.D Student

C Fanning, Green Tara Trust

Director

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Published

2015-02-01

How to Cite

Simkhada, P., Van Teijlingen, E., Winter, R. C., Fanning, C., Dhungel, A., & Marahatta, S. B. (2015). Why Are So Many Nepali Women Killing Themselves? A Review Of Key Issues. Journal of Manmohan Memorial Institute of Health Sciences, 1(4), 43–49. https://doi.org/10.3126/jmmihs.v1i4.12001

Issue

Section

Review Articles