Studying Scripts of Women, Men and Suicide: Qualitative-Method Development and Findings from Nepal.

Information about suicidal behavior in Nepal is limited. According to official records, suicide rates were high until the year 2000 and declined thereafter. Official records are considered unreliable and a gross undercounting of suicide cases, particularly female cases. Suicide research in Nepal has been mostly epidemiologic and hospital-based. Little is known about how suicide is understood by Nepali people in general-including dominant suicide attitudes and beliefs in Nepal. Suicide attitudes and beliefs, which are elements of a culture's suicide scripts, predict actual suicidality. Drawing on suicide-script theory, we developed and used a semi-structured survey to explore Nepali beliefs about female and male suicide. The informants were adult (Mage = 28.4) university students (59% male). Female suicide was believed to be a response to the society-sanctioned oppression and abuse that women are subjected to, in their family and community. The prevention of female suicide was viewed as requiring dismantling ideologies, institutions, and customs (e.g., child marriage, dowry) that are oppressive to women, and ensuring that women are protected from violence and have equal social and economic rights and opportunities. Male suicide was believed to be a symptom of societal problems (e.g., unemployment) and of men's psychological problems (e.g., their difficulties in managing emotions). The prevention of male suicide was viewed as requiring both societal (e.g., employment opportunities) and individual remedies (e.g., psychological counseling). This study's findings suggest that a semi-structured survey can be a fruitful method to access the suicide scripts of cultures about which there is limited research.

Illness Perception and Depressive Symptoms among Persons with Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus: An Analytical Cross-Sectional Study in Clinical Settings in Nepal.

Background. This study aimed to assess the relationship between illness perception and depressive symptoms among persons with diabetes. Method. This was an analytical cross-sectional study conducted among 379 type 2 diabetic patients from three major clinical settings of Kathmandu, Nepal. Results. The prevalence of depressive symptoms was 44.1% (95% CI: 39.1, 49.1). Females (p < 0.01), homemakers (p < 0.01), 61-70 age group (p = 0.01), those without formal education (p < 0.01), and people with lower social status (p < 0.01) had significantly higher proportion of depressive symptoms than the others. Multivariable analysis identified age (ß = 0.036, p = 0.016), mode of treatment (ß = 0.9, p = 0.047), no formal educational level (ß = 1.959, p = 0.01), emotional representation (ß = 0.214, p < 0.001), identity (ß = 0.196, p < 0.001), illness coherence (ß = -0.109, p = 0.007), and consequences (ß = 0.093, p = 0.049) as significant predictors of depressive symptoms. Conclusion. Our study demonstrated a strong relationship between illness perception and depressive symptoms among diabetic patients. Study finding indicated that persons living with diabetes in Nepal need comprehensive diabetes education program for changing poor illness perception, which ultimately helps to prevent development of depressive symptoms.