Abstract:
A negative attitude towards suicide is generally assumed to be predominant in
low-income countries. In order to understand the negative attitude in general it is
necessary to look at how religion and morality influence the attitudes. Our aim in
this qualitative interview study was to investigate what attitudes professional
mental health workers in Uganda bear towards suicide and suicidal persons. The
professionals argue for their attitude by employing religious, communal and
medical ethics arguments, which draw both in a negative and positive direction.
The professionals are in general unambiguously negative towards suicide and
positive towards suicidal people who are mentally ill. In cases other than mental
illness non-accepting attitudes surface. This is discussed against previous research
showing that effective treatment of suicidal people is to be based on a trusting and
accepting relationship.