Celebrity suicide is at the top of the news feeds with the deaths this week – apparently by suicide – of two celebrities, Kate Spade and Anthony Bourdain.
There are megabytes of digital content about these two suicides flooding Internet platforms. No purpose will be served by me as a non-celebrity worshipper adding to the flood. Except to offer condolences to the families of the two who took their lives.
What does intrigue me and is the focus of this post is why so much attention is given to celebrity suicides – and in these two cases – of middle-aged celebrities. Compared to the recent tragic death by suicide of a 17-year-old school girl in the small city of 40 000 people close to where I live. There were five teenage suicides in that city in the first 6 months of 2016.
That raises the question “Is suicide a more serious problem in affluent societies?”
Statistics from 2015, the most recent available, paint a confusing picture. Source Wikipedia
Sri Lanka, a relatively less developed and poorer country had the highest rate of suicides in the world with 34.6 (average of men and women) per 100 000 population.
Lithuania – a wealthier country was 8th on the list with 26.1 and South Korea close behind in 10th spot.
At the other end of the scale, the four countries with the lowest suicide rates were all in the Caribbean which says something for sun, sea, sand and rum or a laid-back lifestyle.
Some surprising results included relatively prosperous and peaceful France and New Zealand and violence-torn South Africa, all sharing the 54th position. The USA in 48th, Canada and Australia tied on 87.
There is no clear trend of suicide rates increasing with affluence, decreasing with poverty or vice versa.
Suicide Rates, Religion and Politics
One significant observation is the number of countries with a strong religious culture in the group showing the lowest suicide rates. Middle Eastern and Asian Islamic countries. Orthodox and Catholic Christian countries including Mexico, Greece, Cyprus and Spain.
An indicator that tradition, culture and strong family values may be more important factors for low rates of suicide than affluence or poverty.
Benevolent governments are not a predictor of low incidences of suicides. Compare one of the most socialist countries, Sweden at number 46 and 12.7 per 100 000 with repressively governed Saudi Arabia at number 159 and a low rate of 3.9 per 100 000, or Iran at 164 and 3.6.
Adversity and suicide rates
Suicide rates for my old country, Rhodesia can no longer be easily found. Suicide in the 1960s and 1970s during a period of severe adversity from sanctions, opposition from the rest of the world and a terrorist war was relatively rare.
Why?
One reason often suggested is that for the same reasons suicide rates among servicemen in both World Wars and concentration camp internees in WWII were low is that both groups were fighting or living for a cause bigger than themselves. For the first group, it was fighting for the future of a free Europe, for the second, it was fighting for survival and the future of the Jewish people.
In his book Suicide and The Holocaust, author David Lester shows that suicide rates among the concentration camp prisoners were low. But after the war, these rates increased dramatically for the survivors as they aged.
This article reports on the high rate of suicide among Jewish women who escaped the Holocaust.
There are no simple solutions to suicide prevention. It seems that cultural, environmental, status, self-esteem, financial, mental health, class, religious and other factors all play a part.
It does seem that suicide rates do not fall as a country gets wealthier, healthier and safer.
What are your thoughts? Leave a comment.
cliff edge graphic by johnhain / pixabay
Kate Spade photo – Wikipedia By Source, Fair use, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?curid=57631897
Anthony Bourdain Photo -Wikipedia Creative Commons