Culture change and mental health: The epidemiology of suicide in Greenland

The focus of this article is to present an overview of suicide rates among the Inuit in Greenland in the period 1972-1995 and demographic characteristics of the persons committing suicide. Epidemiological data on suicides were obtained from a computerized register on causes of death (National Institute of Public Health, Denmark), and were used to update previous reports. Compared to other (North European) countries, extremely high suicide rates were found in Greenland, with a sharp increase in suicide rates in the period 1975-1989. From 1990 it appears that suicide rates have stabilized; however they remained extremely high (around 100 per 100,000). In particular among young males (15-24 years), suicide rates were very high, with a recent concentration among the young aged 15-19. Hypothetical explanations are discussed both from a sociological perspective and from an individual psychological perspective and directions for future research are presented.