Why do national suicide rates vary so much?

Great Debates
1

Hi, I found this on a WHO (UN) site:
http://www.who.int/mental_health/prevention/suicide/suiciderates/en/

The suicide rates for countries are sometimes 100 times as much as other countries. Maybe some figures aren’t accurate though - i.e. due to the pride of families or the countries they didn’t report the true suicide rate.

I was wondering how people explain the big differences in the suicide rates, and whether they think the figures are accurate.

I have no relevant qualifications, but I suspect that countries with very strong family ties where less people feel alieniated would have less suicide.
e.g.
GREECE 5.7 1.6

I’m not sure why Jamaica has such a low rate:
JAMAICA 0.5 0.2
Maybe they also have strong families - and lots of happy people.

It looks like Eastern European type countries have the highest suicide rates.
e.g.
RUSSIAN FEDERATION 70.6 11.9
I think they also have about the highest numbers of atheists - and atheists (like me) don’t believe that there is anything better than life on earth - which can be depressing (it sure is for me a lot of the time)… and they also don’t fear a god that might get upset at their suicide… also, the climate of their countries could be depressing.

I thought the UK would have a fairly high suicide rate, but it doesn’t
UNITED KINGDOM 11.8 3.3
I mean I’ve heard that London is often really dreary and depressing, but that suicide rate is about half of Australia (21.2 5.1) and New Zealand’s (23.7 6.9)…
Surprisingly, Switzerland (26.5 10.0), Sweden (19.7 8.0) and the Norway (19.5 6.8) have fairly high figures but the Netherlands (13.0 6.3) doesn’t.

Other selected statistics:
COLOMBIA 5.5 1.5
CUBA 24.5 12.0
THAILAND 5.6 2.4
PERU 0.6 0.4

JAPAN 36.5 14.1
CHINA (Selected rural & urban areas) 13.0 14.8

BELGIUM 29.4 10.7
FINLAND 34.6 10.9
FRANCE 26.1 9.4
GERMANY 20.2 7.3
UNITED STATES OF AMERICA 17.6 4.1

I guess Japan could be explained because of their traditional acceptance of suicide (maybe suicide also was a traditional thing in Eastern Europe - or at least in a WW2 movie unsuccessful Russian military leaders were expected to commit suicide)
Maybe the suicide rate in Cuba is pretty high because they keep wishing they were in America or something…
I don’t really understand why the rates for Australia and New Zealand are high (well I don’t understand most of the figures).

I wonder if depression/unhappiness is spread pretty evenly amongst the countries or if countries with high suicide rates also have a lot of depression/unhappiness… (or maybe in some countries people just more readily commit suicide than in others since their resistance to suicide due to family commitments or religion, etc, are different).

2

Statistics are a common reason for distortions… or outright giving false info when you want to cash in to life insurance for example.

I know for sure Brazil and probably other Latin Americans have a lot of underreported suicide rates. Not only due to family embarrasment… but plain inneficiency and disregard for statistics by government. The other side of the spectrum are scandinavians with too good government registering everything correctly. On paper it sure seems like Scandinavians are tired of living.

We do hear stories about how northern countries with long winters and “cold” families are a recipe for high suicide rates. Eastern Europe is still in economic caos and high unemployement which leads to high rates of suicide too.

As for Jamaica… why would anyone want to kill themselves there ? Great place… unless smoking dope and you health away is a form of suicide !! :smiley:

3

Obligatory Eurotrip quote:
“It’s good you came in Summer. It gets a little depressing here in Winter.”
Dunno about other places but I don’t think that the Russian/Eastern European suicides are caused by lack of strong family ties. It can get very cold/violent/poor/depressing there as you need other people to survive and yet you can’t stand them. As far as Russia goes it on top of everything is very big, so it takes a lot of people to get anything done, individual life is therefore valued less and suicide is more readily contemplated by more people.

Also since communism and 2 world wars there is a lot less religious influence on peoples lives there as they’ve grown rather dissillusioned and the “you’ll go to hell if you kill yourself” thing stops hardly anyone.

4

In Australia, a big worry is teen suicide in rural areas. People who grow up in small country towns feel they have no hope for the future.

5

I think the practical side of suicide would be much easier in rural areas though (e.g. finding an isolated area to do the carbon monoxide thing, or having access to rifles) I mean the ease of suicide could affect suicide rates… apparently females attempt suicide at least as often or more often than males but the suicide rate for males is higher since they normally use more violent and effective methods. It’s a pity that some rural people would feel that way - despite there being so much welfare in Australia. But if you want to earn above the poverty line wage then that can be hard…

6

I was wondering about the difference in male vs female suicide… I always thought women were more prone to suicide… and males to violent and stupid behaviour that might lead to death.

7

The UK’s rate is artificially low, because of the method of recording. For a verdict of suicide to be passed by a coroner, the burden of proof is ‘beyond reasonable doubt’, not the balance of probabilities as it is in many other countries. So, for example, if a body is found at the bottom of a cliff, it’s not recorded as suicide unless there’s firm evidence that they jumped deliberately (eg a suicide note).

8

I’d like to see separate statistics for London and the rest of the country

9

I used to live in London and hear alot about the dreary weather… but I kind of liked it. It was never too cold… or too hot. The drizzle meant you rarely get soaked wet with rain since its so light. :slight_smile:

10

Women do attempt suicide more often than males, but male have a much higher success rate, since men tend to use more effective methods (like firearms vs lots of pills) than women.

11

It may have to do with women often use suicidal gestures they anticipate won’t work to get attention. I have a lot of cyanide capsules locked in a box nearby I have had for decades. I have then as I have long anticpated global nuclear war. If I decide to commit suicide, the failure rate would be near zero. It is trivially easy to kill yourself if that is what you really want.

12

That’s rubbish. Yes, “the cry for help” suicide attempts do happen - and should NOT be dismissed simply as a way to get attention. But the desire to end your life is just as real, whether you do it with a bottle of pills, or a shotgun to the brain. Yes, it’s easier to save someone from an overdose, but that doesn’t mean their intention wasn’t just as serious.

13

Of course a cry for help is serious. But there is a diffrence between a cry for help, and self-destruction. If the latter is the goal, it is trivial. Just laying your head on the nearest railroad track will do. I could not possibly use a suicide attempt as a “cry for help”. Everyone who knows me is quite aware if I wanted to commit suicide, I could not fail in the endeavor.

14

NZ has a horribly high suicide rate. I believe a big part of ot boils down to the “blokey” attitude.

Kiwi males (and probably Aussie males) are not socialised to share feelings. In many cases they are discouraged. When the “shit hits the fan” for these “blokes” they internalise. They have never learnt how to cry on someones shoulder.

As said above females have a smaller death rate from suicide because of the methods used.

15

Not to be funny… but I’ve actually heard of some people jumping from high places and managing to “survive”. Some people actually manage grazing shots too. Still I agree that we shouldn’t treat failed suicides as less serious…