The risk of suicide tends to be very high among older men living in rural areas and socially isolated locations.
That's according to Walter Sisulu University head of psychiatry Professor Alonso Betancourt.
Delivering his inaugural lecture to raise awareness about psychiatric disorders, Betancourt said a detailed look by demographics shows that 79.2 percent of South African suicide victims are males.
He says less educated females are also a high risk group, while suicidal behavior amongst black South Africans is equally alarming.
Betancourt says over 43% of South African suicide victims are black, 38.4% white, 15.9% coloured and 2% Asian.
"The race groups make up 79,4%, 9,2%, 8,8% and 2,6% of the population respectively," says Betancourt.
Betancourt says "the risk of attempted suicide is highest in the age group 18 - 34 with coloureds having the highest lifetime prevalence for attempts."
"Youth specific risk factors include early marriage, unwanted pregnancies, a lack of parental support, a history of abuse, school problems, social ostracism, humiliation and the availability of firearms."
"One of the most common misconceptions is that someone who attempts suicide is crazy. Another is that someone with a history of failed suicide attempts is manipulative. Situations that leave one feeling hopeless and helpless cause suicidal behavior as an outlet," says Betancourt.
Adding that worldwide, about 1 million people die of suicide each year, Betancourt says the numbers are on the rise in many parts of the world. The suicide rate is set to double from one every 40 seconds to one in every 20 seconds.
The global suicide rate is to double by 2020, with life changing events such as weddings, incurable illnesses and mental disorders cited as the main triggers for the scourge.
"In South Africa, suicide risk is associated with alcohol abuse, occupational trauma common in policing and hopelessness linked to incurable health conditions such as HIV/Aids which have been shown to dramatically increase suicidal behavior.
"Although the introduction of anti-retroviral therapy in 1996 halved suicide rates amongst HIV positive patients, investigators found in 2008 that suicide rates amongst this group were more than three times higher than the rates of the general population," Betancourt explains.
While Japan, Finland, Cuba, New Zealand and France have some of the highest suicide rates, Betancourt stressed that "poorer countries could be lagging behind in recording the cause of death as suicide."
