Suicide notes in Mexico: what do they tell us?

According to international and Mexican official statistics, there is a dramatic rise in suicide in Mexico; however, research in this area is severely limited. This is the first study of suicide notes from Mexico in the international literature. From a population of 747 registered suicides, a sample of 106 note-writers and 106 non-note writers was examined. Using the demographic (descriptive) scheme of Ho, Yip, Chiu, and Halliday (1998), the results indicate that note writers do not differ greatly from other suicides. The less educated understandably wrote fewer notes. The most intriguing finding was that suicide in Mexico was associated with an array of factors, notably interpersonal problems.