BRIEF REPORT Gender Differences Related to Attitudes Toward Suicide and Suicidal Behavior Vijayalakshmi Poreddi 1 • Rohini Thimmaiah 2 • Rajalakshmi Ramu 1 • Sugavana Selvi 1 • Sailaxmi Gandhi 1 • Ramachandra 1 • Suresh Bada Math 3 Received: 16 October 2013 / Accepted: 10 August 2015 Ó Springer Science+Business Media New York 2015 Abstract This descriptive study examined gender dif- ferences related to attitudes toward suicide among ran- domly selected urban residents. Data was collected using a standardized questionnaire through face-to-face interview. Our findings revealed that men hold more pro preventive attitudes to help persons with suicidal thoughts (80.3 %, p = 0.05) and agreed that suicidal attempts are impulsive (78.6 %, p = 0.01). However, they hold permissive atti- tude to help persons with incurable diseases and expressing death wishes to die (66 %, p = 0.05). A majority of men (78.6 %) than women agreed that ‘‘suicidal attempt is essentially a cry for help’’ (v 2 = 11.798, p = 0.05). These gender differences need to be taken into consideration when developing appropriate programs to prevent suicide. Further, decriminalizing the law, high-quality research and raising awareness about suicide prevention among the general population is crucial in developing countries like India. Keywords Attitudes Á General population Á Suicide Á Urban community Introduction Suicide is the most common cause of death worldwide and more than 800,000 deaths are attributed to suicide every year (WHO 2014). Suicide has been defined as ‘‘any deliberate action that has life-threatening consequences and the result of action can be entirely predictable’’ (WHO 2004). According to a 2014 report by the World Health Organization (WHO), 75 % of suicides were among the people from poor or middle-income countries. The suicide rate has increased by 43 % from 35 % in the last three decades (1975–2005) (Vijayakumar 2010). A significant concern is that the majority (71 %) of the individuals who die by suicide were below 44 years of age, which creates a social, emotional and economic burden on society (NCRB 2005). The higher frequency of completed suicides among men and suicidal attempts among women is called gender paradox and may vary significantly between different countries (Mendez-Bustos et al. 2013). In the high income countries like USA, the suicide rate has been about four times higher among men than women, whereas suicide rates among women were higher in the low-middle income countries (AFSP 2013; Phillips et al. 2002). Suicide is a controversial topic disputed in the fields of ethics, law, and medicine (Mo 2011). In India, an attempted suicide is an offense punishable under Section 309 of the Indian Penal Code. Hence, families often do not report sui- cide or suicidal attempts to avoid legal consequences. They even do not seek any professional help and families seldom reveal about suicides to avoid facing stigma and shame (Vijayakumar 2007). In 2008, the Law Commission of India submitted a review to the government and most importantly, the Mental Health Care Bill, 2013 has made a landmark proactive change, by amending the anarchical law. According to this Bill, ‘a person who attempts suicide shall & Vijayalakshmi Poreddi pvijayalakshmireddy@gmail.com; vijayalakshmiporeddy@yahoo.co.in 1 Department of Nursing, College of Nursing, National Institute of Mental Health and Neuro Sciences, Institute of National Importance, Bangalore 560 029, India 2 Department of Psychiatry, Videhi Medical College, Bangalore, India 3 Department of Psychiatry, National Institute of Mental Health and Neuro Sciences (Institute of National Importance), Bangalore, India 123 Community Ment Health J DOI 10.1007/s10597-015-9913-1