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The editors at Best Masters in Counseling decided to research the topic of:
Suicide Notes: Current Rates and Suicide Through the Ages
SUICIDE NOW
Global Suicides
- 1 million people die from suicide worldwide every year. That translates to 16 per 100,000 or 1 death every 40 seconds.
- 1 suicides occurs every 2 minutes in China, accounting for nearly a third of the global suicides with 250,000 - 300,000 suicides a year.
- Country - suicide rate - population - suicides - male/female rate
- Greenland - 108.1 - 56,370 - 61 - 164.9/43.9
- South Korea - 31.7 - 50,004,441 - 15,851 - 39.9/22.1
- Lithuania - 31.6 - 2,972,949 - 939 - 61.3/10.4
- Guyana - 26.4 - 752,940 - 199 - 39.0/13.4
- Kazakhstan - 25.6 - 16,911,900 - 4,329 - 43.0/9.4
- Belarus - 22.9 - 9,457,500 - 2,166 - 48.7/8.8
- China - 22.23 - 1,353,821,000 - 300,954 - 20.1/26.3
- Slovenia - 21.8 - 2,055,496 - 448 - 22.3/3.4
- Hungary - 21.7 - 9,942,000 - 2,157 - 40.0/10.6
- Japan - 21.7 - 126,659,683 - 27,485 - 36.2/13.2
- US - 12 - 311,591,917 - 37,391 - 17.7/4.5
- America ranks #33 with a 12/100,000 suicide rate
American Suicides
- Suicide was ranked as the 10th leading cause of death among persons ages 10 years+.
- It accounts for 38,364 deaths or 1 suicide every 13 minutes
Suicide rate by sex and age
- age: both sexes - male - female
- 10-24: 7.21 - 11.45 - 2.76
- 25-64: 16.25 - 25.37 - 7.35
- 65>: 14.8 - 29.05 - 4.04
Suicide rate by sex and race
- race: male - female
- Native Indian/Alaskan: 27.6 - 7.9
- White: 26 - 6.7
- Hispanic: 12.3 - 2.4
- Black: 11 - 2
- Asian/PI: 9.5 - 4
Suicide rate by sex, age and race
- Method: 10-24 / 25-64 / 65+
- ..............male - female / male - female / male - female
- Firearm: 49.7 - 25.5 / 51.9 - 30.5 / 79.1 - 35
- Suffocation: 36.5 - 48.5 / 25 - 17.4 / 8.8 - 16.5
- Poison: 5.8 - 18 / 15 - 42.8 / 6.8 - 36.1
- 33.3% tested positive for alcohol
- 23% tested positive for anti-depressants
- 20.8 tested positive for opiates
- 37,000 Americans commit suicide every year.
- For every 1 female that commits suicide, there are 4 men who commit suicide
SUICIDE THEN
- Only recently has suicide come to be viewed as a mental health issue. it used to be viewed as sinful, criminal, personal or even courageous.
- In most early civilizations, suicide was not seen as a crime or a sin.
- In fact, it was seen as a legitimate way to:
- - escape a miserable existence
- - release loved ones from the burden of caregiving
- - avoid shame or regain dignity from shame
- Colonial America
- The colonies looked to the common law of England and to the bible for their stance on suicide; so not only was it a sin (worthy of hell) but also a crime.
- "self-murder" resulted in the property and possessions of the "criminal" being seized, often leaving their family helpless.
- Medieval: by 1178, the word suicida had been coined and attitudes towards suicide were that it should be a private matter, politely concealed. But, if it were believed that someone had "self-killed", they would drag the corpse through the city and burn it.
- Ancient Egypt: Suicide did not violate the legal code. it was a just way to end physical or emotional suffering.
- Ancient Greece: The stoics, cynics, and some epicureans believed in the natural right of the individual to perform suicide.
- Ancient Japan: Samurai warriors preferred death over capture. if defeated or outnumbered, he would perform seppuku, belly cutting, to keep his honor intact. This mindset translates to the kamikaze pilots of WWII.
- Rome: Courage and dignity were of utmost importance to roman nobility. if a person's life was tarnished with a shameful act, suicide was a way to regain some of the dignity lost.
SUICIDE HELP
- National Hopeline Network (800) SUICIDE
- National Suicide Prevention Lifeline (800) 273-TALK (8255)
- National Youth Crisis Hotline (800) 442-HOPE (4673)
SOURCES
- www.crouchfoundation.org/history-of-suicide.html
- www.suite101.com/article/act-of-suicide-and-shame-and-disgrace-in-ancient-rome-and-japan-a327811
- www.history.ac.uk/reviews/review/75
- www.uta.edu/philosophy/faculty/burgess-jackson/001%20The%20Legal%20Status%20of%20Suicide%20in%20Early%20America.pdf
- www.who.int/mental_health/prevention/suicide/suicideprevent/en/
- www.cdc.gov/violenceprevention/suicide/statistics/aag.html
- www.webspace.ship.edu/cgboer/latergreeks.html
- www.museevirtuel-virtualmuseum.ca/edu/ViewLoitDa.do?method=preview&lang=EN&id=501
- www.reshafim.org.il/ad/egypt/people/suicide.htm
- www.medievalists.net/2011/09/01/seven-shillings-and-a-penny-female-suicide-in-late-medieval-england/
- www.iasp.info/pdf/papers/Bertolote.pdf
- www.en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_suicide_rate
- www.who.int/mental_health/prevention/suicide_rates/en/index.html
- www.biomedcentral.com/1471-244X/9/20
- www.besjournal.com/freeArticles/pastIssues/2005/No6/200701/P0200701127005471468546320051863758.pdf
- www.cdc.gov/violenceprevention/pdf/Suicide_DataSheet-a.pdf
