Depression and suicide in Egypt

ABSTRACT

Depression was known in Pharaonic Egypt and we can trace descriptions in odes and poems in some Egyptian papyri [1800 B.C.] [Okasha, 1978]. According to Egyptian beliefs, suicide was irrelevant and so was dealt with on a marginal level. It was asserted that in Africa the majority of manic-depressive illnesses are manic in form. Our study in Egypt did not substantiate these data and less than one in five of our manic-depressive showed a manic picture. A survey in the psychiatric out-patient clinic revealed affective disorders in 24.2% with neurotic depression 10.4%, manic-depression 8.6% and involutional melancholy 5.2% [Okasha, 1977]. Suicidal attempt and suicide were commonest among depressives especially in the young age group. A recent study in Cairo by Okasha et al. [1979] gave a rough estimate of suicide at 4/100, 000 and attempted suicide at 38/100, 000. Crosscultural comparison between Egyptian, Indian and British depressives showed that Egyptians have a significant increase in suicidal tendencies but not in actual suicide or attempted suicide. A survey of suicidal feelings among non-consulting medical students will be discussed