NationStates Jolt Archive


Poison plant fuels suicide bids

Lasqara
15-04-2006, 00:59
In my view, further research to the aim of determining the socio-cultural roots of Sri Lanka's unusually high incidence of self-induced fatality should receive priority over such short-sighted campaigns to eliminate natural suicide vectors as are proposed in the later segment of the article. Your thoughts?


Poison plant fuels suicide bids
By Jolyon Jenkins
Producer, Me and My Poison

Sri Lanka has been suffering from a growing epidemic of suicide attempts.

It is fuelled by the ready availability of poison from the fruit of a common roadside plant.

Michael Eddleston is a British doctor who has spent much of the past ten years in Sri Lanka.

It is becoming the suicide capital of the world. The poison of choice is the seed of the Yellow Oleander tree - an ornamental plant often used for hedging that grows all over the island.

It has yellow trumpet-like flowers and a fruit the size of a conker. Inside is a single large seed. One is enough to kill you.

Although the plant grows in large parts of the tropics, it's only in Sri Lanka that it has become associated with suicide - and only fairly recently, with an incident 25 years ago: two girls in the northern part of the island took the seed and died.

Publicity

As a result of the newspaper publicity it entered the public consciousness.

"The next year," says Michael Eddleston, "there were 23 cases; the year after that 46, then 126, and ever since then it has continued to rise year on year as it spreads across the island.

"It completely overwhelms the health service. Often young people use it as a way of getting back at people. They get scolded and they take a yellow oleander seed.

"I remember one girl said her mother wanted her to get up and do the shopping. She said no, her mother scolded her and she took a Yellow Oleander seed.

"I remember a Muslim girl - her mother said she couldn't watch TV during Ramadan, so she took a seed in front of her mother.

"We had no ambulance to get her in time and we had no good treatments. She died."

Family strife

It's not just young people. In a remote hospital in Pollonaruwa, where Michael Eddleston has done much of his research, I met an old man, a strict Buddhist, recovering from a suicide attempt.

He had fallen out with his wife, over his habit of feeding the neighbourhood dogs. You care more about those dogs than me, said the wife.

The man, feeling that his Buddhist principles were under attack, walked out and swallowed a seed from a tree in his garden.

Luckily, relatives discovered him and got him to Pollonaruwa in time.

Many of these protest suicide attempts are only semi-serious but up to 10% of them are fatal anyway - a much higher percentage than in the west, where we have good anti-poisoning drugs and facilities.

Michael Eddleston wanted to do something about that.

The poison from Yellow Oleander is similar to a drug used in the West to treat heart beat irregularities, digoxin. Digoxin slows down the heart beat.

Dramatic effect

An oleander seed is like 100 digoxin tablets in one container, and the effect on the heart is dramatic: it gets slower and slower, and then stops.

Western doctors have at their disposal an anti-body against digoxin.

Michael Eddleston thought it might also work against Yellow Oleander, and ran a trial in Sri Lanka to test the theory.

The drug did indeed work, but no anti-digoxin is currently used in Sri Lanka. Why? Because it's too expensive. To treat one patient could cost in the region of $3000.

Mr Eddleston said the price was held high because of the American market: most clients are American doctors who have accidentally given their patients too much digoxin and need to get the heart going again.

For them, he said, it's worth paying almost anything to avoid a law suit.

So the price of the drug remains high, geared to a market which demands the highest quality, purest drug - a purity that is an unaffordable luxury in Sri Lanka.

Money pressures

For much of the last decade, Michael Eddleston has tried to find a local manufacturer in the Indian subcontinent that can make anti-digoxin at a price the Sri Lankan market can afford.

But, I wondered, will this ever be seen as a priority in a country that has so many calls on its health care budget?

Isn't there bound to be a lack of willingness to spend money on people who have brought their problems on themselves?

If so, it's not an attitude I found at Pollonaruwa hospital. Dr Kachana, one of the doctors on the poison ward told me: "I feel very sorry about these innocent people.

"Most of the time they get oleander with very small, minor reasons. I think we have to do something to reduce the rate of admission to the hospital."

And she recommends a government campaign to get people to cut down their Yellow Oleander trees.

It won't be easy. In a village I spoke to a poisoning victim who still had the plant that nearly killed him in his garden.

Had he thought of cutting it down, I asked. Yes he had, he said. But the plant was still there.


Story from BBC NEWS:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/1/hi/health/4888840.stm

Published: 2006/04/10 08:57:27 GMT

© BBC MMVI
IL Ruffino
15-04-2006, 01:06
In America we use guns.
Glitterdrive
15-04-2006, 01:10
That's a pretty crazy story. I kinda don't know what to say.
Sumamba Buwhan
15-04-2006, 01:12
Shouldnt we be happy that the people who didnt want to live anymore are no longer living? Live and let die.
Lasqara
15-04-2006, 01:16
The World Health Organization has published a rough chart (http://www.who.int/mental_health/prevention/suicide/suiciderates/en/) with which one may contrast Sri Lanka's suicide rates with those of a broad range of other nations.

The Organization (http://w3.whosea.org/en/Section1174/Section1199/Section1567/Section1824_8078.htm) provides additional details through the Mental Health and Substance Abuse web-pages of its Regional Office for South-East Asia:

During the past 15 years in war-torn Sri Lanka, it is estimated that nearly 50000 persons have been killed. Deaths due to suicide, in the same period, are estimated to be 106000 -- twice the number due to war. As late as the 1950s, Sri Lanka had a low suicide rate of 6 per 100000. This rate doubled to 12 per 100000 by 1964 and increased to 19 per 100000 by 1969. This was followed by a sharp increase. The official estimates for 1996 are 37 per 100000, making Sri Lanka one of the countries with the highest number of suicides per unit of population (Figure 2). A study revealed substantial underreporting and the real extent of the problem and current rates are estimated to be 44-50 per 100000. Significantly, the proportion of youth committing suicide increased from 33% in 1960 to 44% in 1980. Regional variations as in other countries are reported from Sri Lanka also (Figure 2). Suicides are the fourth most frequent cause of death in hospitals in Sri Lanka.

Visual comparison (from the same page) of Sri Lanka's rates with those of neighboring India and fellow majority-Buddhist Thailand would - but for greatly disparate time-scales - be especially intriguing:

Figure 2: Changing pattern of suicide in selected countries of SEAR
(Rates per 100 000)

http://w3.whosea.org/Image/oth_Facts_and_Figures_c8078ENimage007.gif

http://w3.whosea.org/Image/oth_Facts_and_Figures_c8078ENimage008.gif

http://w3.whosea.org/Image/oth_Facts_and_Figures_c8078ENimage009.gif
Tactical Grace
15-04-2006, 01:16
Meh, it's their own stupidity. They know it's poisonous. They know a fairly high proportion of those who eat it, die. They know their chances of receiving timely medical assistance are low. And still they do it? Pfft. :rolleyes:
Lasqara
15-04-2006, 01:19
Meh, it's their own stupidity. They know it's poisonous. They know a fairly high proportion of those who eat it, die. They know their chances of receiving timely medical assistance are low. And still they do it? Pfft. :rolleyes:

One would surmise that to be the general intention. ;)
Glitterdrive
15-04-2006, 01:20
Shouldnt we be happy that the people who didnt want to live anymore are no longer living? Live and let die.

I more agree with TG than with this post. Sure, these people know the effects of it and they chose to take the seed, but really, just because it's such a commonplace thing, I don't think it's worth killing yourself when you get scolded for not doing a chore.

It's just a case of the population being so used to the idea that it seems like nothing.
Asbena
15-04-2006, 01:23
Jeeze.....that's a little disturbing. :eek:
Sumamba Buwhan
15-04-2006, 01:27
I more agree with TG than with this post. Sure, these people know the effects of it and they chose to take the seed, but really, just because it's such a commonplace thing, I don't think it's worth killing yourself when you get scolded for not doing a chore.

It's just a case of the population being so used to the idea that it seems like nothing.

So you don't think people should have the right to end their own lives if they so choose? Or you just think that they should have a reason that suits you as being valid?
Lasqara
15-04-2006, 01:33
Something to mull over:

I read daily in Colombo newspapers about suicides over seemingly trivial things like a bad grade or an insult. "Sri Lanka has one of the highest suicide rates in the world," a U.S. official in Colombo told me. "Why should we be surprised that a Tiger would commit suicide for his nation, when a wife will do it because her husband didn't like dinner?"

Priit J. Vesilind, National Geographic Senior Writer (National Geographic Vol. 191, No. 1, January 1997): "Sri Lanka: A continuing ethnic war tarnishes the pearl of the Indian Ocean"
Glitterdrive
15-04-2006, 01:34
So you don't think people should have the right to end their own lives if they so choose? Or you just think that they should have a reason that suits you as being valid?

Dude calm down. I'm not arguing against suicide, or these people's right to do that if they wish. And it doesn't have anything to do with their reason not being good enough.

All I'm saying is that what may seem a legitimate reason to them may just be a result of the population being so comfortable with this idea of grabbing one little seed to get back at whoever happens to be scolding you.

I just think that they might not see these reasons as legit if this didn't happen so often. It has nothing to do with whether it suits me, and I never said I thought they shouldn't be able to make that decision.
Tactical Grace
15-04-2006, 01:38
It's just a case of the population being so used to the idea that it seems like nothing.
That's what struck me about it, that people have grown complacent, and are not assessing the risks rationally. A 10% fatality rate is only half as bad as putting a round into a revolver and giving it a spin. Would anyone do that as a melodramatic statement of annoyance? It's just crazy.
Sumamba Buwhan
15-04-2006, 01:43
Dude calm down. I'm not arguing against suicide, or these people's right to do that if they wish. And it doesn't have anything to do with their reason not being good enough.

All I'm saying is that what may seem a legitimate reason to them may just be a result of the population being so comfortable with this idea of grabbing one little seed to get back at whoever happens to be scolding you.

I just think that they might not see these reasons as legit if this didn't happen so often. It has nothing to do with whether it suits me, and I never said I thought they shouldn't be able to make that decision.


calm down? CALM DOWN?!?!? I'll show you $%*ing calm!!!! :headbang:

just kidding. I don't see where I flew off the handle even a little bit in what you quoted, but be my guest at thinking that steam is shooting out of my ears over here as I ask you questions to get some clarity on what you said.

So chill out there, and quit being so frantic. :p

Personally I think suicide should be readily accepted by people and govt's in all societies no matter what their reason for doing it. I highly doubt that these kids are committing suicide just because they were scolded once and think that society will accept their action as legitimate or normal or whatever. But if that is the case then good riddance to idiotic rubbish.
Lasqara
15-04-2006, 02:03
Acta Psychiatr Scand. 1995 Jan;91(1):1-4.
War and suicide in northern Sri Lanka.
Somasundaram DJ, Rajadurai S.
Department of Psychiatry, University of Jaffna, Sri Lanka.

A study on the effect of war on the suicide rate in Jaffna town for the 10-year period from 1980 to 1989 is reported. There was a marked drop in the suicide rate during the war, notably among males and youth. An inverse relationship between suicide and homicide rates was shown in the overall trends, particularly in 1987. It is hypothesized that war may function as an alternate to suicide. The use of agrochemicals for suicidal purposes declined during war, while alary seeds became more popular. The method chosen may reflect availability and cultural popularity.

It would be interesting to hear more critical commentary about this study. The validity of the findings for Sri Lanka as a whole seems questionable, as death in war and death by suicide have - for this nation - often been synonymous.
Glitterdrive
15-04-2006, 02:09
calm down? CALM DOWN?!?!? I'll show you $%*ing calm!!!! :headbang:

just kidding. I don't see where I flew off the handle even a little bit in what you quoted, but be my guest at thinking that steam is shooting out of my ears over here as I ask you questions to get some clarity on what you said.

So chill out there, and quit being so frantic. :p

Personally I think suicide should be readily accepted by people and govt's in all societies no matter what their reason for doing it. I highly doubt that these kids are committing suicide just because they were scolded once and think that society will accept their action as legitimate or normal or whatever. But if that is the case then good riddance to idiotic rubbish.

The "calm down" was not completely serious. I just wanted to make sure you knew what I meant. :)

And I'm sure that the reasons may not be quite that simple, but it does say in the article that the one girl got scolded for not going shopping for her mother and went out to find the seed because of that. And society may not accept it as such, but I think the fact that it's so commonplace just makes people more likely to think of that as a solution.
Lasqara
15-04-2006, 14:33
Any additional opinions?
Tactical Grace
15-04-2006, 14:34
Any additional opinions?
Apart from advising people not to be so emo? No.