Suicide and attempted suicide in Greenland. A controlled study in Nuuk (Godthaab)

Suicidal behaviour in Eskimo populations has changed in pattern and quantity over the last decades. Rates have more than quadrupled and performers now are mainly young persons with obscure motivation. In a study from Greenland's major township all cases of attempted or completed suicide among Greenlanders are analysed for social, emotional, somatic, and environmental predisposing factors in comparison with a non-psychiatric, never-suicidal, matching group. Almost two per thousand of the adult population committed suicide yearly while attempts at suicide were five times as frequent. A quarrelsome, drinking, childhood home background was often found, at least as regards the attempters, who themselves frequently suffered from emotional conflicts with close contacts, alcohol affliction, criminality, and instability at work. Neither bereavement, cross-cultural exposure, broken homes, nor meteorological factors seemed to exert a significant influence. The results are discussed in relation to the social and cultural evolution of the Greenlandic society.