Lack of Religion May Result in Higher Suicide Rates
April 7th 2008 11:47
Before anyone takes those words out of context let me just say this is just an unproven theory and that this may be coincedence rather than causality.
Does anyone notice how high the suicide rates are in countries like Norway, Australia, France and Germany? Some of the most 'livable' cities in the world with the highest literacy rates and best healthcare, not to mention they provide some of the best opportunities and jobs yet they lack in terms of spirituality and religion.
The countries I mentioned above have suicide rates of between 20 and 35 per 100,000 people while a country like Egypt, Iran, Kuwait, Jordan has just between 0.1 to 0.3 per 100,000. You would think it would be the equal and opposite, surely the more developed the nation the more willing people would be to live, yet perhaps we forget the key aspect of spirituality and religion, something the countries with higher suicide rates tend to lack.
You might argue this has something to do with a developed nation and that it creates people who are more likely to kill themselves, yet Israel, which was founded on the concept of religious right, has a suicide rate of about 10 per 100,000 which is one third of other similarly developed countries which can go as high as thirty five percent.
Another thing to note is countries like Lithuania are second world but have a suicide rate of 75.6 per 100,000, its population is comprised of 10% athiests. Surely if we were to argue 'the better developed a nation the more likely it would create suicidal citizens for reason x rather than lack of religion' then Lithuana would have a considerably less suicide rate. First world countries seem to average 25 per 100,000 while third worlds which have a higher devout religious population can go as low as 0.1 yet a second world with a 10% population of Athiests (which is relatively quite high for any country) has a suicide rate double that of first world countries. Technically it should have a rate lower than first worlds and higher than third worlds. If you do compare it with another second world country such as Georgia which has a higher religious population (10% Muslim, 82% Roman Catholic) we find it has a suicide rate of just 4.8 per 100,000.
To conclude though I have to say that I haven't put much thought into this, it is no more than an interesting observation. I'm absoloutely sure there is more to do with than just religious belief.
*WHO
*Countries of the Second World
*Demographics of religious diversity collected from Wikipedia
*Suicide statistics collected are for the male population only
Does anyone notice how high the suicide rates are in countries like Norway, Australia, France and Germany? Some of the most 'livable' cities in the world with the highest literacy rates and best healthcare, not to mention they provide some of the best opportunities and jobs yet they lack in terms of spirituality and religion.
The countries I mentioned above have suicide rates of between 20 and 35 per 100,000 people while a country like Egypt, Iran, Kuwait, Jordan has just between 0.1 to 0.3 per 100,000. You would think it would be the equal and opposite, surely the more developed the nation the more willing people would be to live, yet perhaps we forget the key aspect of spirituality and religion, something the countries with higher suicide rates tend to lack.
You might argue this has something to do with a developed nation and that it creates people who are more likely to kill themselves, yet Israel, which was founded on the concept of religious right, has a suicide rate of about 10 per 100,000 which is one third of other similarly developed countries which can go as high as thirty five percent.
Another thing to note is countries like Lithuania are second world but have a suicide rate of 75.6 per 100,000, its population is comprised of 10% athiests. Surely if we were to argue 'the better developed a nation the more likely it would create suicidal citizens for reason x rather than lack of religion' then Lithuana would have a considerably less suicide rate. First world countries seem to average 25 per 100,000 while third worlds which have a higher devout religious population can go as low as 0.1 yet a second world with a 10% population of Athiests (which is relatively quite high for any country) has a suicide rate double that of first world countries. Technically it should have a rate lower than first worlds and higher than third worlds. If you do compare it with another second world country such as Georgia which has a higher religious population (10% Muslim, 82% Roman Catholic) we find it has a suicide rate of just 4.8 per 100,000.
To conclude though I have to say that I haven't put much thought into this, it is no more than an interesting observation. I'm absoloutely sure there is more to do with than just religious belief.
*WHO
*Countries of the Second World
*Demographics of religious diversity collected from Wikipedia
*Suicide statistics collected are for the male population only
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Comment by RubySoho
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I'm sure religious countries have a lower rate of divorce too.
Comment by Ahmed
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Comment by RubySoho
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America is probably not the best country to test for that though. I was thinking more along the lines of Ireland, Middle East, Central America, where religion is still State controlled to a large extent.
Comment by tlcorbin
A strong spiritual connection with family, friends and community helps prevent the disconnect, we may be just herd or pack animals in spite of our veneer, after all.
My query is this; from whence do secularists, atheists, theist and other . . . ists draw their strengths from? Let alone, their sense of continuation and belonging?
Anyway, thought provoking post Ahmed.
Hiya Ruby, interesting comments.
Raven
Comment by Ahmed
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I think the ones who don't believe in any form of spirituality are the reason the suicide rates are so high in countries, Slovenia sticks out like a sour thumb with 10% of the population being athiest. Though that doesn't mean they can't actually have a sense of belonging, it's just easier if you're the religious type.
When all is said and done we're not really individualists so much so we're looking for a niche to join and call our own. Even emo's who try so hard to be unique end up congregating wtih like minded people. Perhaps the probelm is if you're an athiest you're the least likely to find a set of people to feel a part of since there is no church of athiesm as such.
Comment by Winston
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I doubt that answers the whole question, but I think it could well be a part of it.
Raven, to answer your question, I draw some of my strength from myself, from the self-reliance and responsibility that my parents instilled in me. Another good chunk comes from friends and family. I draw the greatest portion of it from my wife (if I never do another smart thing in my life, I'll always be able to point to marrying her), and the rest from my basic wonder of the world and the universe (my occasional disgust with the human race notwithstanding). We are insignificant specks in the eye of the universe, and I'm OK with that. I feel privileged to have belonged to it, however briefly.
Interesting query, Ahmed.
Comment by Ahmed
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Comment by tlcorbin
There are indeed many contributing factors that lead up to suicide, the sense of being disenfranchised seems to lead the pack Ahmed, but the faith in something other than yourself seems to stay the hands of many.
Raven
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Comment by Damo
Reading stats and interpreting them is a specialized skill and requires knowledge of what is not measured as much as what is.
You also have to be careful about interpreting the figures to match a cherished theory.
What effort was made to dispel the theory or look at other data. To see if the theory will pass a skeptical test. Can it be proven backwards as well as forwards.
The story is the same for critics of the survey results.
Comment by Brenton
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1. Ridiculously stressful competitivew culture, especially in School, with little socially acceptqbe way to let of steam.
2. The Paradox of becoming more westernized while still being socially besed on a culture that is becoming archaic in the dayly lives of many.
Comment by Anonymous
Perhaps societies that have a lower rate of religious adherence are less inhibited about calling a spade a spade when someone tops themselves.
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Comment by Anonymous
There are reasons for this not the least of the additional shame or stress for families of the Xtian ilk of having a suicide verdict associated with the death of their loved one.
I know of several cases where coroners have gone to great lengths to return a verdict of "death by misadventure" eg. they had a prescription for sleeping tablets but "accidentally" took took many of them.
Comment by Steven (atheist)
I'm not claiming to know the truth about all the statistic factors that seem to affect suicide rateings in a country, but i spent a lot of time reading different statics (with a lot of VERY different results) i tend to get back to my good old athistic "reason and reaction"-thinking:
Suicidal pepole usually (and i know that i tried to kill myself twice before i changed my lifes phylosophy to real atheism) tend to think about suicide bacause the balance beteen the things that cheer them up, and the things that sadens them is negative. To simplify this, you can say that their self-esteem is unhealty low
the reaction for an unhealty low selfesteem is usualy a suicide attempt.
so, to connect the countrys with high suicide rates to any statistic "reasons" you have to look after "personal self esteem destroyers" that are more common in these countrys than in others. The list below shows the two most important which came to my mind right now:
- soical indpendence (noone needs you)
- religions with a "you are bad and have to be sorry that you are on this planet"-attitude like christianity, mormons or Shinto (common in japan)
so, the reason why the suicide rates on countrys with proud religions (i don't like to call them agessive) and bad economy like some of the countrys you mentioned above isn't a real suprise for me. If Noone makes you feel bad about yourself as a human beeing and you have a family and a bunch of cusins who don't earn enought money get well fed, why on earth should you commit suicide?
Suicide whishes are a lot more about how you see your life than how it actually is.
p.s. sorry for any spelling or garammar errors, I grew upin switzerland and psychology or suicide aren't real "school topics" to learn a forain language on if you know what i mean
p.p.s. no questions about my suicidal past please, all i have to say is that fate wasn't really nice to me and it took me a while to realise, that it's in MY control wheather and how intense my past affects my future.