Social psychiatry and psychiatric epidemiology
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Soc Psychiatry Psychiatr Epidemiol · Feb 2015
The diffusion of a new method of suicide: charcoal-burning suicide in Hong Kong and Taiwan.
In the late 1990s, an epidemic rise in suicides by carbon monoxide poisoning from burning barbecue charcoal began in Hong Kong and Taiwan. This study investigates the diffusion of this new method of suicide. ⋯ Common features of the epidemic in both places were the greater levels of early uptake by the young- and middle-aged males. The different course of the charcoal-burning suicide epidemic may reflect social, geographic and media reporting differences. Surveillance to identify the emergence of new suicide methods is crucial in suicide prevention.