Suicide and parasuicide in Barbados, 1974-1978

This paper examines all the cases of suicide and parasuicide (non-fatal self-destructive acts) which took place on the Caribbean island of Barbados between 1974 and 1978. There were two females and 18 males who committed suicide in that period, and 14 of them were below age 44. There were 250 individuals who had attempted suicide for the first time, with a male to female ratio of 1:2.33. Most of the parasuicides were young and female, and the phenomenon is increasing. Health care officials on the island would seem to be legitimately unconcerned about the low suicide rates. However, the increasing parasuicide numbers may require more organized psychiatric care to meet the needs of this subgroup of the island's population.