Over the last 45 years suicide have rates increased by 60% worldwide. We analyze the countries with the highest suicide rates in the world today. Isolation, access to deadly substances, and a variety of social pressures cause troubling suicide rates in countries across the geographic and economic spectrum, including Guyana and Japan alike. Sadly, a general trend we are seeing globally today is one of more and more people acting on suicidal thoughts and behaviors. Suicide knows no demographic or socioeconomic bounds, and the countries with the highest rates are a quite diversified group. Within, there are small and big countries, rich and poor countries, and African, Asian, European, and American countries. For this reason, we feel it’s worth looking at some common threads that these nations do share, and hope that our investigation may give us some prospective solutions to turn around this disturbing global trend of increased suicide trends. Guyana’s Spike in Suicides Just looking at the sheer numbers, one cannot ignore the huge gap in the number of suicides per 100,000 people between Guyana and the rest of the world. At 44.2 people (per 100,000 people of course) committing suicide, compared to 28.9 in second place South Korea is a massive difference, and deserves its own analysis. Guyana is a very interesting country, with fewer than 10 full-time psychiatrists in the country among a total population estimated to be around 735 thousand, and almost no other options for those seeking psychological help. Moreover, Guyana's shockingly high suicide rate is said to have something to do with the ease of access to deadly substances such as pesticides. Adding in the entrenchment of deep poverty seen across the nation’s rural areas, where access to the mentioned substances is the easiest, one can easily see why the suicide rates are markedly higher there than anywhere else in the globe. Former Socialist Republics of Europe Looking deeper into the listed countries there are far more interesting trends to be discovered. Out of the top 25, eight were either formerly part of the former Soviet Union or other Eastern Bloc nations under the influence of the USSR. All European countries in the table are located in Central or Eastern Europe, and all of them fall under the geographic jurisdiction of the former Warsaw Pact group of countries. Most of these countries have very high expectations when it comes to catching up with the rest of the European region, and the economic pressure the citizens are under might often end up in suicidal behaviors. Sadly, these countries have foreign relations issues lingering from the Cold War, and many have seen their economic situations worsen since the fall of Communist regimes and the Soviet Bloc in 1989 and the early 1990s. Suicide in the Developing World Continuing with the historical aspects that may contribute to high suicide prevalence, we now take the case of the “Three World Model,” a distinction for developing and underdeveloped economies introduced in the late 1940s. Only two of the countries listed were included in the original First World grouping. The rest were either Second World, such as the former communist countries mentioned above, or Third World. A low quality of health and wealth in these countries surely contributes to their high rates of suicide. From this point, we move on to see that the countries that were seven decades ago classified as Second or Third World dominate the list of 25 countries with the highest suicide rates today. Intriguing, however, is that, from the countries originally listed as “Third World” after World War II, those that have since seen their economies boom sand have relatively high incomes and quality of life today, still register very high suicide rates. Japan and South Korea: Developed Economies with High Suicide Rates Two major exceptions to the generality of underdeveloped economies having higher rates are seen in the East Asian economic powerhouses of Japan and South Korea. The cases of Japan and Korea are very intriguing. Why are some of the world’s most developed and wealthy countries so high on the list? In these cases, it may have more to do with cultural aspects. Both societies are perceived as hyper-competitive, and their people often live under huge pressures to be successful from a very young age. It is frightening that exam results or college entrance are cited as the main suicide reasons by young adults. The stresses directly related to living and being brought up in these societies can often prove too much, especially for more sensitive and young individuals. In fact, statistics show that in South Korea suicide is the number one cause of death for citizens between the ages of 10 and 30. What Can Be Done? What stands out from the trends discussed is that there are no absolute divisions in suicide rates when it comes to differences in infrastructural development or income indices. One would believe that most of the countries in the top 25 would be poor, but that is not the case. Only 14 out of the top 25 countries are classified in the Lower-Middle-Income or Low-Income groups in Gross National Income per capita. Similarly, in the case of the Human Development Index, 10 of the 25 countries with the highest suicide rates achieved high or even very high Human Development Indices. Lastly, there is little to no correlation between the location of countries and their place in the table above. Africa, Asia and Europe are the most represented continents (with 9, 7 and 6 countries respectively), but there is not much more in the geographical aspect to be taken from the top 25 list. Countries from around the globe can be found both at the top and bottom of the list. With so little in common between the countries making our list, the most effective way to combat suicide may prove to be interventions on the individual level. Suicide Rates By Country Source
