A rise in the suicide rate in England and Wales followed the funeral of Princess Diana three years ago, a new study shows. The University of Oxford Centre for Suicide Research found that the overall suicide rate in England and Wales rose by 17% in the four weeks after her funeral, compared with the average reported for that period in the four previous years (British Journal of Psychiatry 2000;177:469-72).
The number of people taking their life in this period increased by 40, but the impact was greatest on women, particularly women closest in age to Diana herself, who died at 37. The rate of suicide in women increased some 34% in the month after Diana's death, and in women aged 25-44 the rate increased by over 45%. The researchers suggest an "identification" factor partly explains the findings—in other words the kind of people who most identified with the princess were most affected by her death.
It might be that women close to her in age and who identified with her relationship and psychological difficulties became more pessimistic about their own ability to conquer similar problems, leading to depression and hopelessness, so paving the way to suicidal thoughts. Particularly intriguing was the finding from the national confidential inquiry into suicide and homicide by people with mental illness that there was no change during this period in the proportion of suicides known to mental health professionals. This suggests that many people affected by Diana's death were not those who would traditionally be classified as "vulnerable," as they were not known to mental health professionals.
The findings contrast with the period immediately after President Kennedy's assassination, when the national suicide rate in the United States temporarily declined. The theory advanced then was that the bringing together of the nation in mourning meant people felt more connected with each other and their community, so reducing isolation and loneliness. But this new British research found that suicide rates mysteriously peaked most in the fourth week after Princess Diana's funeral. This suggests to the authors that these events set in train such fundamental upset that the group support provided by the crowds soon dispersed after the funeral.
The researchers also found deliberate self harm presenting to a general hospital in Oxford increased significantly (by 44%) only in the week after the death of the princess, especially in women (65%). A review of these patients' case notes suggested that the influence of Princess Diana's death was largely through "amplification of personal losses and exacerbation of existing distress."