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Stigma as a barrier to suicide prevention efforts in Iran

Suicide and suicide attempt affect a considerable part of the general population, and in spite of their prevalence, the stigma associated with suicide remains an unsolved problem surrounding this important public health problem, especially in lower-income countries such as Iran. Evidence shows that...

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Autores principales: Masoomi, Maryam, Hosseinikolbadi, Seyedehmahboobeh, Saeed, Fahimeh, Sharifi, Vandad, Jalali Nadoushan, Amir Hossein, Shoib, Sheikh
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: Frontiers Media S.A. 2023
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9868841/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/36699938
http://dx.doi.org/10.3389/fpubh.2022.1026451
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author Masoomi, Maryam
Hosseinikolbadi, Seyedehmahboobeh
Saeed, Fahimeh
Sharifi, Vandad
Jalali Nadoushan, Amir Hossein
Shoib, Sheikh
author_facet Masoomi, Maryam
Hosseinikolbadi, Seyedehmahboobeh
Saeed, Fahimeh
Sharifi, Vandad
Jalali Nadoushan, Amir Hossein
Shoib, Sheikh
author_sort Masoomi, Maryam
collection PubMed
description Suicide and suicide attempt affect a considerable part of the general population, and in spite of their prevalence, the stigma associated with suicide remains an unsolved problem surrounding this important public health problem, especially in lower-income countries such as Iran. Evidence shows that help-seeking from formal mental health services for suicidal people is low in countries like Iran. Previous studies on Iranian survivors of suicide attempts have shown that these people experience fear of stigma due to labels such as loss of faith in God, having forms of severe mental illnesses (“madness”), and being involved in unaccepted sexual relationships. The associated stigma prevents them from seeking appropriate health and social services. Although both self-stigma and public stigma contribute to an unwillingness to seek mental health care and suicide prevention efforts in Iran, public stigma may be of greater consequence, significantly impeding an individual's likelihood of accessing care for their suicidal thoughts or attempts. In such circumstances, many people with suicidal thoughts miss out on social and formal support programs offered by social and healthcare providers. In this perspective article, focusing on the public stigma regarding suicide in Iranian society, we address the challenges and barriers to seeking suicide prevention efforts in Iran and discuss culturally appropriate strategies to improve the current situation.
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spelling pubmed-98688412023-01-24 Stigma as a barrier to suicide prevention efforts in Iran Masoomi, Maryam Hosseinikolbadi, Seyedehmahboobeh Saeed, Fahimeh Sharifi, Vandad Jalali Nadoushan, Amir Hossein Shoib, Sheikh Front Public Health Public Health Suicide and suicide attempt affect a considerable part of the general population, and in spite of their prevalence, the stigma associated with suicide remains an unsolved problem surrounding this important public health problem, especially in lower-income countries such as Iran. Evidence shows that help-seeking from formal mental health services for suicidal people is low in countries like Iran. Previous studies on Iranian survivors of suicide attempts have shown that these people experience fear of stigma due to labels such as loss of faith in God, having forms of severe mental illnesses (“madness”), and being involved in unaccepted sexual relationships. The associated stigma prevents them from seeking appropriate health and social services. Although both self-stigma and public stigma contribute to an unwillingness to seek mental health care and suicide prevention efforts in Iran, public stigma may be of greater consequence, significantly impeding an individual's likelihood of accessing care for their suicidal thoughts or attempts. In such circumstances, many people with suicidal thoughts miss out on social and formal support programs offered by social and healthcare providers. In this perspective article, focusing on the public stigma regarding suicide in Iranian society, we address the challenges and barriers to seeking suicide prevention efforts in Iran and discuss culturally appropriate strategies to improve the current situation. Frontiers Media S.A. 2023-01-09 /pmc/articles/PMC9868841/ /pubmed/36699938 http://dx.doi.org/10.3389/fpubh.2022.1026451 Text en Copyright © 2023 Masoomi, Hosseinikolbadi, Saeed, Sharifi, Jalali Nadoushan and Shoib. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) and the copyright owner(s) are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
spellingShingle Public Health
Masoomi, Maryam
Hosseinikolbadi, Seyedehmahboobeh
Saeed, Fahimeh
Sharifi, Vandad
Jalali Nadoushan, Amir Hossein
Shoib, Sheikh
Stigma as a barrier to suicide prevention efforts in Iran
title Stigma as a barrier to suicide prevention efforts in Iran
title_full Stigma as a barrier to suicide prevention efforts in Iran
title_fullStr Stigma as a barrier to suicide prevention efforts in Iran
title_full_unstemmed Stigma as a barrier to suicide prevention efforts in Iran
title_short Stigma as a barrier to suicide prevention efforts in Iran
title_sort stigma as a barrier to suicide prevention efforts in iran
topic Public Health
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9868841/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/36699938
http://dx.doi.org/10.3389/fpubh.2022.1026451
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