Public grief at the death of Diana, Princess of Wales, took a far more tragic twist in Britain than had been previously thought.

New research shows there was a dramatic increase in women either committing suicide or acts of self-harm in the days directly after Diana died in a car crash on 31 August 1997.

In the week following the accident there was a 33.7 per cent rise in suicides among women in England and Wales and the overall suicide rate, for men and women, increased by 17.4 per cent in the month after her funeral.

Deliberate self-harm - usually attempted suicides - rose by 65.1 per cent in the first week of September 1997.

Previous theories claimed that 'social cohesion' - people drawing together with a sense of shared sorrow which was experienced in America when JFK was assassinated - had prevented any upsurge. But the report to be published in the British Journal of Psychiatry this week is expected to conclude that the figures show a serious impact on many women.

The effect was most clearly seen in women aged 25 to 44. Normally, it is women over 45 who are most at risk of taking their own lives.

The study's authors, among them Professor Keith Hawton of the suicide research unit at the University of Oxford and Louis Appleby, a mental health expert, believe their work will prompt further studies on the affects of major events concerning well-known celebrities.

However, psychiatrists and sociologists point out that most of the deaths occurred among people who were already feeling suicidal.

Professor Cary Cooper, of the University of Manchester, said: 'Diana's death is not going to have caused anybody to kill themselves, rather it will have been a trigger to many who were predisposed to taking their lives.

'It is important to remember that people who will have had such an extreme reaction to Diana's death will have been those already feeling irrational, despondent and depressed.

'The reason the event affected so many women is that they are more likely to have related to Diana through the stresses and strains they saw in her life. Alternatively, some may have thought "well, there's a young woman who had it all and what's the point in me living when you could just go like that at any time?"

'I think there was a lot of guilt when the princess died. People felt very bad at having been part of a society which wanted to know the titbits and read the papers and the magazines avidly. Perhaps had we not dogged her so much she would not have been speeding away in a car from press and cameramen.'

His remarks were backed by the Samaritans' spokeswoman Julie Alexander, who said there had been a marked increase in calls to their helplines around the time of the death and funeral.

'But we wouldn't say her death caused anyone to kill themselves. It is never anyone else's fault when someone takes their own life.

'Self-harm is a noticeable factor. Self-harm rates have been going up quite worry-ingly. It is a massive issue.'



tracy.mcveigh@observer.co.uk