I KEEP reading in papers throughout the world that people think 2020 was one of the worst years on record, and few have hope that the situation will improve over the coming year. Covid-19 has spiked, with many countries reporting record-high cases and deaths. In the United States, the political environment is the worst it has been since the Civil War, eclipsing even the turbulent Sixties, and many nations are experiencing similar political distress.
Unemployment, climate disaster, political unrest, medical crisis, social justice outrage, superpower confrontation. With so much misery out there, my thoughts turned to the suicide rate, so I investigated the statistics kept by the United Nations and the World Health Organization. Some of what I found was not surprising, some of it was. Let us take a look.
The top ten countries with the highest suicide rate, in order, are Lithuania, Russia, Guyana, South Korea, Belarus, Suriname, Kazakhstan, Ukraine, Latvia, and Lesotho. Of those, five are in Eastern Europe and six of them are part of the former Soviet Union. Two are in South America, one is in East Asia and one is in Africa. So Eastern Europe would seem to be the most miserable place to live, or at least more people choose the permanent solution to their problems. I am not too surprised by that.
I was surprised at the suicide rate in countries that are experiencing severe difficulties such as wars and insurrections. For example, Afghanistan, Iraq, and Syria have low rates. However, some suspect the accuracy of their numbers.
The primary causes of suicide are mental illness and depression, which are not diagnosed or reported in many places. In South Korea, for example, 90% of suicide victims have a diagnosable mental health condition. Japan, which narrowly missed the Top Ten list at number 14, has seen suicide rise to the number one cause of death among men ages 20-44 and women ages 15-34.
The gender disparity was greater than I realized. I knew that men take their own lives more often than women, but the ratios are shocking. Among the top countries, the ratio of men to women is around five to one. In the entire world, men have a higher suicide rate than women in all but a half dozen countries. In some extreme cases, ten men kill themselves for every woman.
Where are the lowest suicide rates to be found? In the Caribbean Islands, with Antigua, Barbados, Granada, Bahamas, Jamaica and St. Vincent among the lowest suicide rates in the world. Surprised? I guess that fits. Island life is less stressful for many. Afterall, Americans vacation in the Caribbean to unwind and escape the stress of home. The statistics verify that is a good strategy.
How does the Pacific compare to the rest of the world in suicides? Not too bad overall. Here is a sample of countries from across the region with their rank. Japan 14, United States 27, Australia 41, New Zealand 52, Micronesia 60, China 69, Vietnam 101, New Guinea, 117, Fiji 132, Solomons 140, Samoa 147, Tonga 157, Indonesia 158, Philippines 163. With only six countries in the top one hundred, I would say the Pacific region is doing a good job addressing the problem of suicide. But we can always do better.
BC Cook, PhD lived on Saipan and has taught history for 20 years. He travels the Pacific but currently resides on the mainland U.S.
