Bali has ‘one of the highest’ rates of suicide

There are on average 100 suicides in Bali each year, one of the highest rates in Indonesia, a report shows.

Presenting findings by the Suryani Institute for Mental Health, which marks its sixth anniversary, institute psychiatrist Cokorda Jaya Bagus Lesmana said Wednesday
in Denpasar that those who attempted suicide were in their productive years of between 20 and 50 years of age.

“The number of suicides in Bali has reached an alarming level,” he said.

The institute’s data showed an increasing trend in the number of suicides. In 2000, 106 people
killed themselves. The rate increased dramatically in 2004 with 180 suicides that year. In 2010, the number fell to 120.

“However, in 2011 we predict a gloomy picture. There have already been 40 confirmed suicides as of early May,” Lesmana said.

The study said 47.5 percent of those who committed suicide suffered from various psychological disorders. Physical illness and problems are also cited as motives for suicide (27.5 percent), followed by economic factors (7.5 percent), love affairs (5 percent), marital disputes and extra-marital affairs (2.5 percent), and unknown reasons (10 percent).

Demographically, suicide is more common among young and middle-aged people.

“Two regencies in Bali — Buleleng in the north and Karangasem in the east — reported the bulk of the suicide cases followed by Tabanan,” Lesmana added.

To overcome the problem, the Suryani Institute has been conducting a new suicide prevention program to treat people with mental and physical disorders in four districts in Karangasem.

“The method has worked extremely well and it has stunned the international medical profession,” Lesmana said.

Luh K. Suryani, professor of psychiatry and the founder of the institute, elaborated that the method was a combination of Western and modern treatments infused with rich Balinese cultural and social elements.

“The method requires the participation of families and the community,” he said.