Recapturing the spirit of the Blitz

Jan 12 2009 by Andrew Baldwin, Huddersfield Daily Examiner

Some events, like a terrorist atrocity, can bring people together with a “Blitz” spirit. But, warn the experts, the economic downturn is more likely to lead people to despair. ANDREW BALDWIN reports

THE number of suicides in England and Wales fell by about 40% after the July 2005 bombings on London, scientists have concluded.

Their findings echo a trend also seen after the attacks of September 11, 2001 on New York’s World Trade Center.

Dr Emad Salib, consultant psychiatrist and senior lecturer at Liverpool University, said any tragedy on a national scale such as a natural disaster, war or bombing, brought people together.

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

He is one of two researchers who found a “small but significant reduction” in the daily suicide count five days after the July attacks that killed 52 people on Tube trains and a bus.

Psychologists believe traumatic national events such as these help potentially suicidal people to feel less alone and more part of society.

Jermaine Lindsay, 19, who went to school in Huddersfield, was one of the suicide bombers which left 52 people dead and 700 injured in the terrorist outrage.

He triggered the Russell Square bombing which killed 26 people on a Tube train.

The ringleader was Mohammed Sidique Khan, 30, from Dewsbury, who had a pregnant wife and a young child.

He bombed an Edgware Road Tube train, killing six people.

Reports say it is “likely” that Khan and his right-hand man, Shehzad Tanweer, 22, had been in contact with al-Qaida figures while in Pakistan, and received some training.

Fourth gang member Hasib Hussain, 18, from Leeds, bombed a number 30 bus and killed 13 people in Tavistock Square.

Suicide rates also dropped on July 21, 2005 when bombers again targeted the capital but failed to detonate their explosives.

Previous studies have shown that terrorist attacks can have substantial effects on suicide rates. For example, England and Wales saw a reduction in suicide after the plane attacks of September 11, 2001 in the USA.

The reduction was measurable even though the outrage happened in another country

Dr Salib and colleague Dr Mario Cortina-Borja, from University College London analysed daily suicide counts between January 1, 2001 and December 31, 2005, using figures from the Office for National Statistics.

A small but significant reduction in suicide rates was seen five days after the July 7 attacks on the London transport system.

Suicide rates dropped again on July 21.