A Reason to Live?
November 12th 2007 02:10
I'm a little wary of posting this blog because, when viewed next to my only previous blog, it may earn me a reputation for morbidity which I personally think is undeserved.
But here we go:
The World Health Organization publishes on its website a list of suicide rates for various countries around the world according to the latest available figures. The most recent available year for statistics differs considerably between countries, and as we all know, one has to be (more than) a little careful with statistics.
Still, there are some interesting insights to be had. The US has a suicide rate (per 100,00 people) of 17.6 for males and 4.1 for females. However, their long-suffering northern neighbours refuse to be overshadowed, with Canadians having suicide rates of 19.5 for males and 5.1 for females. Compared with this the Brits are a happy lot, with rates of 11.8 and 3.3 for males and females respectively.
Australians, who pride themselves on their happy-go-lucky nature, may be surprised to find that the rate of suicide for males is higher than that of the US and almost double that of the UK, at 21.2. They can be comforted perhaps by the fact that their trans-Tasman rivals, the Kiwis, have an even higher suicide rate, at 23.7 for males and 6.9 for females.
Which country has the dubious honour of having the highest recorded suicide rate? Take a bow Lithuania, and take that noose off from around your neck while you're at it. 75.6 males and 16.1 females per 100,00 people wrote their own final chapter in the year 2000 ( the most recent available statistics). This is closely followed by Russia, Belarus and Ukraine. It is not clear whether drinking yourself into a vodka-induced coma and falling asleep in the snow on the side of the road counts as suicide. If it does then it may go some way toward explaining these figures!
I will leave you to draw your own conclusions, althought the most noticeable thing about all of the countries mentioned is that the suicide rate is much higher for men than for women. Do men have a tougher lot in life, or are women just made of stronger stuff? Personally I'm not getting involved in that debate.
One final note. Iranians would appear to be amongst the happiest people on earth, with an official suicide rate of 0.3 for males and 0.1 for females. This, of course, is a country in which the president is on record as saying that there has not been one recorded case of homosexuality in the entire country, so perhaps we should treat any statistic provided by the Iranian government with just a hint of caution. Or maybe these figures are true - maybe people who look in any way unhappy are whisked off by men in black suits and sent to 're-education camps' , where they are taught how to be sufficiently grateful for all that the state has done for them. Maybe they could teach those ungrateful Lithuanians a thing or two!
But here we go:
The World Health Organization publishes on its website a list of suicide rates for various countries around the world according to the latest available figures. The most recent available year for statistics differs considerably between countries, and as we all know, one has to be (more than) a little careful with statistics.
Still, there are some interesting insights to be had. The US has a suicide rate (per 100,00 people) of 17.6 for males and 4.1 for females. However, their long-suffering northern neighbours refuse to be overshadowed, with Canadians having suicide rates of 19.5 for males and 5.1 for females. Compared with this the Brits are a happy lot, with rates of 11.8 and 3.3 for males and females respectively.
Australians, who pride themselves on their happy-go-lucky nature, may be surprised to find that the rate of suicide for males is higher than that of the US and almost double that of the UK, at 21.2. They can be comforted perhaps by the fact that their trans-Tasman rivals, the Kiwis, have an even higher suicide rate, at 23.7 for males and 6.9 for females.
Which country has the dubious honour of having the highest recorded suicide rate? Take a bow Lithuania, and take that noose off from around your neck while you're at it. 75.6 males and 16.1 females per 100,00 people wrote their own final chapter in the year 2000 ( the most recent available statistics). This is closely followed by Russia, Belarus and Ukraine. It is not clear whether drinking yourself into a vodka-induced coma and falling asleep in the snow on the side of the road counts as suicide. If it does then it may go some way toward explaining these figures!
I will leave you to draw your own conclusions, althought the most noticeable thing about all of the countries mentioned is that the suicide rate is much higher for men than for women. Do men have a tougher lot in life, or are women just made of stronger stuff? Personally I'm not getting involved in that debate.
One final note. Iranians would appear to be amongst the happiest people on earth, with an official suicide rate of 0.3 for males and 0.1 for females. This, of course, is a country in which the president is on record as saying that there has not been one recorded case of homosexuality in the entire country, so perhaps we should treat any statistic provided by the Iranian government with just a hint of caution. Or maybe these figures are true - maybe people who look in any way unhappy are whisked off by men in black suits and sent to 're-education camps' , where they are taught how to be sufficiently grateful for all that the state has done for them. Maybe they could teach those ungrateful Lithuanians a thing or two!
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