Why are suicide rates going up after a decline in the 1980s? Why do people feel that death is a better option than staying alive? Suicide seems to be like politics. We have simple and terminal solutions to very complex and nuanced problems. Just like in politics, we keep making the same mistake by treating suicide as one problem rather than an expression of a dynamic interaction between the individual and their environment. We have been trying to change the individual without treating the environment.
Suicide is an unspoken pandemic—where every country in the world experiences it in silence. Unspoken and shamed despite the fact that worldwide, every year, over one million people die by suicide. Suicide accounts for around one in every 50 deaths. On average, for every 100,000 people, 16 will kill themselves. But there is tremendous variation. Generalities hide the raw reality of suicide.
Suicide rate varies by country, income, gender, age, time period and ethnicity. These factors all play a major role. Because countries that top the suicide rates are so diverse, it seems to be an erratic malady. Countries with the highest suicide include: Guyana in South America, followed by countries of Eastern Europe, Japan, South Korea, and Europe— with Belgium leading the continent. The USA lies 50th in a list of 170 countries.