Suicide in Flanders, Belgium, after terrorist attacks

ABSTRACT

Little is known about the association between terrorism and suicide. This study investigates suicide numbers in Flanders, Belgium before and after the Paris-attacks (13/11/2015) and Brussels-attacks (22/03/2016). Population mortality data for suicide were gathered from the Agency for healthcare. Suicides in Flanders, Belgium, were higher after both attacks. The increase was higher after the Paris-attacks, compared to the attacks in Brussels, Belgium. The effect of a close-by, but still foreign attack (the Paris-attacks in France) on suicide numbers is larger than that of an attack inside the country (the Brussels-attacks), possibly due to a difference in threat experience and coping possibilities.

KEYWORDS:

• Terrorism
• suicide
• epidemiology
• stress
• traumatic stress

Acknowledgments

Data was provided by the Agency for Care and Health. We wish to thank An Janssen for her contribution in accessing the data.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Additional information

Funding

This research has been funded by Innoviris, the Brussels institute for research and innovation in Belgium (BRGPRO1).