Abstract:
Suicide and self-harm are some sort of the critical public health concerns in Sri Lanka. In
the global context, Sri Lanka still reports a very high rate of deaths by suicide despite and
its declining trends during the last few decades. Meanwhile, studies had described
different sociocultural factors that trigger suicidal behaviours. Thus, synthesizing
previous works on sociocultural factors of suicide will be vital in forming preventive
strategies. This paper, therefore, aims to answer what are the sociocultural factors
triggering suicide and how they could be connected with historical and structural social
dynamics in Sri Lanka. The study used content analysis to analyze 84 peer-reviewed
articles selected via Google Scholar using appropriate search terms. The study finds that
masculinity and feminine properties of Sri Lankan culture are essential factors in
describing suicidal behaviour. Socio-political and structural changes that occurred in
the post-independent era also been contributed to increasing suicide. Further, literature
widely recognized issues around love, sex, and romance as critical risk factors that trigger
suicide and self-harm among young people. Moreover, men’s alcoholism and domestic
violence are crucial aspects of suicide in Sri Lankan society. The review concludes that
suicidal behaviour has been established in the social context as a form of
problem-solving or a method of escaping from the distress caused by issues related to everyday social life rather than mental problems. Thus, preventive measures must
address these socio-cultural dynamics, while addressing the essential mental health
problems that contribute to suicide in Sri Lanka.
