Blitz Spirit' behind fall in suicide rates in UK following 9/11, 7/7 terror strikes

London, Jan.6 (ANI): There has been a drop in suicide rates in Britain to the tune of 40 percent in the aftermath of terror attacks such as 9/11 and 7/7, scientists in the country have opined.

The Telegraph quotes Dr Emad Salib, a consultant psychiatrist and senior lecturer at Liverpool University, as saying that any tragedy on a national scale such as a natural disaster, war or bombing brings society together in a common cause and this leads to the drop in suicides.

"There is greater social cohesion, the Blitz spirit," he said.

Dr Salib says that he expects to find that the effect of the London bombings would be greater than the 9/11 attacks because it happened on British soil and was carried out by British bombers.

But the drop in suicides was the same as after 9/11 and in fact the effect did not last as long.

After 9/11 the suicide rate in England and Wales remained low for four weeks, and it was the lowest September suicide rate for 25 years.

In contrast after 7/7 the suicide rate dropped for only two days. There was a similar drop after the attempted bombings on July 21st, 2005 as well, the research found.

Dr Salib said: "I expected to see a greater impact after 7/7 having had the disaster caused by home grown people and on British soil, but the effect was very brief and muted."

He said the explanation for this could be that the televised coverage of the 7/7 attacks was more moderate than 9/11.

The findings are published in the British Journal of Psychiatry. (ANI)