Funding to study suicide and self-harm in South Asia

A WELSH university has been awarded a prestigious Research Council UK Global Challenges Research Fund grant to look at suicide and self-harm in South Asia.

The Capability Grant award to Bangor University’s Centre for Mental Health and Society is a key component in the UK Aid strategy.

While suicide and self-harm are well-researched in Europe and the USA, much less is known about behaviour in Asia, where rates are high.

Experts from Bangor will work with colleagues in India and Pakistan, looking at how to equip local researchers with skills to develop long-term programmes to reduce death, disability and distress.

Professor Catherine Robinson, who is leading the four-year project, said: “The project will set up deliberate self-harm registers, conduct household surveys and collect information from people whose lives have been affected by suicide and deliberate self-harm.

“The key to the project is to develop methods of doing all this in rigorous, sensitive and safe ways, creating a platform of new methods and skills that are relevant to South Asia. It will then be possible to address a range of important questions about social stress, help-seeking and effective intervention. Armed with a greater understanding, we hope to inform public health plans and health service development, setting out an agenda for future research and using the findings to help high-risk populations in the UK.”

Dr Nasim Chaudhry, of the Pakistan Institute of Living and Learning, a partner in the research added: “Deliberate self-harm and suicide remain punishable offences in Pakistan. Our work will not only provide robust evidence on their prevalence but also on what encourages people to seek help.”

Professor Ian Jones, director of Cardiff University’s National Centre for Mental Health, said the study was of national importance.

He said: “This prestigious Research Council grant is a fantastic achievement for Prof Robinson and her team at the centre for Mental Health and Society and great news for mental health research in Wales.

“The work addresses the important issue of self-harm and the devastating impact it can have on individuals and communities. I believe it will have a major impact, not just in South Asia but also here in the UK.”

Bangor University Vice-Chancellor Professor John G Hughes said: “I congratulate the team on winning such an important Research Council grant... This is a prime example of the way that Bangor University research is both contributing to the research base in Wales and making an impact around the world.”