Is the month of Ramadan marked by a reduction in the number of suicides?

TL;DR

This study investigates whether suicide rates decrease during Ramadan due to increased social ties, finding a significant 15% reduction in Turkey, supporting the Bertillon-Durkheim theory.

Contribution

It provides empirical evidence linking Ramadan to reduced suicide rates, highlighting the social cohesion effect in a Muslim-majority country.

Findings

Suicide rates drop by about 15% during Ramadan.

The effect is statistically significant with a low standard deviation.

Social gatherings during Ramadan may strengthen social ties, reducing suicides.

Abstract

For Muslims the month of Ramadan is a time of fasting but during the evenings after sunset it is also an occasion for family and social gatherings. Therefore, according to the Bertillon-Durkheim conception of suicide (that is based on the strength of social ties), one would expect a fall in suicide rates during Ramadan. Is this conjecture confirmed by observation? That is the question addressed in the present paper. Surprisingly, the most tricky part of the investigation was to find reliable monthly suicide data. In the Islamic world Turkey seems to be the only country whose statistical institute publishes such observations. The data reveal indeed a fall of about $15\%$ in suicide numbers during the month of Ramadan (with respect to same-non-Ramadan months). As the standard deviation is only $4.7\%$ this effect has a high degree of significance. This observation, along with the fact that other occasions of social gathering such as Thanksgiving or Christmas are also marked by a drop in suicides, adds further credence to the B-D thesis.