Awareness and attitudes of a rural Ethiopian community toward suicidal behaviour. A key informant study in Butajira, Ethiopia.

One hundred key informants were interviewed regarding their awareness and attitudes toward suicidal behaviour. Eighty-eight informants were male, 58 were Muslim and 42 were Christian. Informants on average, claimed to know more persons who had completed suicide than those who had attempted suicide. Almost all informants mentioned more than one cause for suicide. Of these, frustration was the most frequently mentioned cause. Most informants believed that suicide attempters are cruel, feared and not trustworthy. Their attitude toward suicide completers was expressed as condemned sinners, do not deserve funeral ceremony, and should be buried separately from others. Christians gave importance to the funeral issue more than did the Muslims. Generally, the attitudes of informants were punitive and disapproving.