What makes a nation suicidal ?

A list of the top nations in the world for suicide rates doesn't make for pleasant bedtime reading. However, as a source of ideas for explaining why people kill themselves (and thus what can be done to prevent it), it is an interesting source of data.

So....what do you think are the factors that are most likely to lead a country to be vulnerable to high suicide rates? Poor social welfare systems ? A poor sense of community or togetherness, maybe its poor mental health services ?

In the industrialised world who do you think scores highest ? The USA ? Many of you may think this is a trick question and answer "the Scandanavian countries". Maybe you think its the UK ?
Well...you would all be wrong and infact, as far as the UK is concerned, it has the lowest suicide rate of all the countries in Western Europe...

The latest edition of The Economist (10 Ocober 2009) has just published OECD data on this question, that begs more questions than it answers. Infact the country with the highest rate is Japan ( a country defined by its sense of community and public services, though arguably with a social tradition of suicide). However, most striking (in position number 3) is France - which has a suicide rate that is TWICE that of the UK and 40% higher than Germany.

The Economist offers explanations which I personally do not find credible - such as a restrictive employment policy that creates meaningless jobs. However, it is a fascinating question as to why a country that prides iteself on quality of life and the value of community should have so may people who want to kill themselves ?

I would like to explore this further at my next block of workshops on Suicide and Self Harm ( http://www.skillsdevelopment.co.uk/seminars.php?courseid=6 ) . Id be fascinated by your tho0ughts and theories on this (whether at the workshop or here on this blog). Let me know what you think.

Take care

Paul

Paul Grantham
Consultant Clinical Psychologist