scholarly journals Suicides in Serbia at the beginning of the 21st century and trends in the past fifty years

Stanovnistvo ◽  
2007 ◽  
Vol 45 (2) ◽  
pp. 25-62 ◽  
Author(s):  
Goran Penev ◽  
Biljana Stankovic

In 2006 in Serbia, 1444 persons committed suicide (19.5 per 100.000 population. Compared to the early 50s of the 20th century, the number of suicides has nearly doubled, but there has been a moderate decrease in the last 15 years. Similar, but somewhat more moderate tendencies are noted in the change of the value of the suicide rates. The lowest suicide rates were recorded during the 1950s, around 12 per 100.000, and the highest in the last decade of the 20th century when the rate reached 20 suicides per 100.000 inhabitants. The highest suicide rate is among the elderly, and there is also a noticeable tendency of increase in the share of the elderly in the total number of suicides, which is primarily the consequence of intense demographic aging. With youth, the last thirty years note a decline of both the number of suicides and the value of the suicide rates. The number of young people aged 15-24 who have committed suicide in 2006 is less than half of the number from 1971 (decreased from 150 to 66), and the values of suicide rates are also significantly low (decreased from 11.5 to 6.9 per 100.000). Despite certain changes in the values of age-specific suicide rates achieved in the last 50 years, their age patterns of suicide mortality can be characterized as stable. Men are dominant among persons who have committed suicide, with double the number of women, and the highest recorded value of the suicide rate of women never surpassed the value of the lowest suicide rate in men. In terms of marital status, the total rate of suicides is highest with widowers then divorced persons, married persons, and lowest rates are with celibates. In all four groups, suicide rates are at least 3 times higher for men. There is also a clear connection between the level of education and suicide rates for both sexes, with the suicide rate decreasing with higher educational level. In terms of total suicide rate, Serbia is currently in the top half of the European list of countries, closer to countries with highest suicide rates than fifteen years ago. Results achieved in other countries, especially in some former communist countries, imply that defining and conducting a strategy for suicide prevention could have significant effect on the decrease of suicides in Serbia as well.

2004 ◽  
Vol 37 (6) ◽  
pp. 721-740 ◽  
Author(s):  
MARTIN VORACEK

Across 85 countries around the world, Voracek (2004) found a significant positive relation between estimated national intelligence (IQ) and national male and female suicide rate. The relation was not attenuated when countries’ per capita Gross Domestic Product (GDP) and type of national IQ estimation were statistically controlled. Independently, investigating the total national suicide rate only, Lester (2003) arrived at the same conclusion. These two findings are consistent with a corollary of de Catanzaro’s (1981) evolutionary theory of human suicide, namely that a threshold intelligence is necessary for suicidality and that intelligence and suicide mortality should thus be positively related. Here, further evidence for this hypothesis is bolstered by focusing on suicide rates of the elderly. Across 48 Eurasian countries, estimated national IQ was significantly positively related to national suicide rates of people aged 65 years and over. This new ecological-level finding survived statistical controlling for a set of seven variables (type of national IQ estimation, national GDP, stableness and recency measures for suicide rates, and rates of adult literacy, urbanization and Roman Catholics), which thus are not confounding factors for the relation of intelligence and suicide mortality. Based on ecological data, the threshold IQ for suicidality is predicted to be 70 or slightly over, an estimate that is consistent with various suicidological observations.


1990 ◽  
Vol 24 (4) ◽  
pp. 500-509 ◽  
Author(s):  
Christopher H. Cantor ◽  
Terry Lewin

Australia has a moderate overall suicide rate but an extremely high male firearm suicide rate. Using data covering the years 1961–1985, a series of multiple regression based analyses were performed. During this period, overall suicide rates fell but firearm suicides remained constant with a resulting increase in the proportion of suicides by firearms. There has been an increase in suicides in the young offset by a decline in the elderly. Young males showed the greatest proportional increase in the use of firearms. A limited regional analysis supported the hypothesis that lack of legislative restrictions on long guns in Queensland with a greater household prevalence of such weapons and different cultural attitudes were associated with higher overall and firearm suicide rates. Such findings are consistent with reports from North America, although trends in Australia are more modest. Reducing the availability and cultural acceptance of firearms is likely to decrease suicide rates, especially in males.


2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lidija Injac Stevović ◽  
Selman Repišti ◽  
Tamara Radojičić ◽  
Olivera Injac

Abstract Background: This is an ecological study that analyzes suicides committed in Montenegro during the 2000-2018 period, taking into account gender, age and methods of suicide. Methods: Suicide rates and trends up until 2009 were obtained from the official registers of Bureau of Statistics of Montenegro (MONSTAT) while the later data were obtained from the Department of Interior’s. MONSTAT also provided data on unemployment and average salary. As per statistical methods, descriptive and correlations were calculated. Results: The average crude suicide rate was 21.06, for males 29.93 and for females 12.42. Crude suicide rates were not associated with unemployment rate or average salary. However, the unemployment rate was significantly correlated with lethal methods of suicide, namely suicide by firearm and by hanging. Average net salary was negatively correlated with suicide by firearm. Conclusions: The ratio of males and females who committed suicide was 2.41. In the last three years, this ratio continues to rise in favor of males (reaching 4.29 in 2018). This could be explained by specific cultural features where males are expected to be the main financial contributors to the households. The labor market of Montenegro does not offer adequate opportunities to set and maintain a stable economic situation which puts additional pressure and stress on males.


2012 ◽  
Vol 111 (2) ◽  
pp. 495-497 ◽  
Author(s):  
B. C. Ben Park ◽  
David Lester

Suicide rates in 2005 in South Korea were higher in rural areas than in urban areas. Those in rural areas more often used pesticides and chemicals as a method for suicide, and there was a greater proportion of men and the elderly, both groups at higher risk for suicide in South Korea. These three factors may account for the high rural suicide rate in South Korea.


2020 ◽  
Vol 24 (4) ◽  
pp. 404-407
Author(s):  
Victoria Arakelova

The article presents some historical evidence about the veneration of individual trees, primarily the juniper and the oak-trees, traditionally considered to be sacred in the Zaza culture, as well as generally groves and forests. Unfortunately, the once vast and rich forestal covering of the Zazas’ main habitat in Dersim (Tunceli), which was a proverbial phenomenon still in the beginning of the 20th century, has been almost totally exterminated as a result of the mistreatment by the Turkish government. The folk beliefs related to tree worship have also been considerably erased from the people’s memory, lingering on only among the elderly in the remote mountain villages as a dwindling echo of the past.


2000 ◽  
Vol 17 (2) ◽  
pp. 59-61 ◽  
Author(s):  
John F Connolly ◽  
David Lester

AbstractObjectives: This study was designed to explore the social correlates of the country suicide rate in Ireland.Method: Suicide rates for Irish counties were calculated for the period 1978-1984, a seven year period centred around the 1981 Census.Results: The county suicide rates were positively associated with death rates and the percentage of elderly population and negatively with change in population, the birth rate and the percentage of the population under the age of 15.Conclusions: There is good evidence to suggest that the official suicide rate in Ireland has been underestimated in the past. This underestimation may not have been uniform across all of the counties.


2010 ◽  
Vol 25 (3) ◽  
pp. 159-163 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. Zhang ◽  
J. Ma ◽  
C. Jia ◽  
J. Sun ◽  
X. Guo ◽  
...  

AbstractObjectivesIt is to estimate the trend of suicide rate changes during the past three decades in China and try to identify its social and economic correlates.MethodsOfficial data of suicide rates and economic indexes during 1982–2005 from Shandong Province of China were analyzed. The suicide data were categorized for the rural / urban location and gender, and the economic indexes include GDP, GDP per capita, rural income, and urban income, all adjusted for inflation.ResultsWe found a significant increase of economic development and decrease of suicide rates over the past decades under study. The suicide rate decrease is correlated with the tremendous growth of economy.ConclusionThe unusual decrease of Chinese suicide rates in the past decades is accounted for within the Chinese cultural contexts and maybe by the Strain Theory of Suicide.


Author(s):  
Yujiro Kuroda ◽  
Masatsugu Orui ◽  
Arinobu Hori

This study analyzed the suicide mortality rate in 12 municipalities in Fukushima Prefecture designated as evacuation areas following the 2011 nuclear disaster. Changes in suicide rates were examined using an exponential smoothing time series model. In the evacuation areas, the suicide rate of men increased immediately after the disaster and then decreased from 47.8 to 23.1 per 100,000 during about 1½ years after the disaster. However, with the lifting of the evacuation order, it again exceeded that of non-evacuation areas and continued to do so for the next 3 years. On the other hand, the suicide rate in women in the evacuation areas increased later than that in men. These results indicate the need for continuous support following the lifting of the evacuation order. In addition, it is necessary to enhance social networks, which continue to confer protection, because of the isolation of the elderly as highlighted in our previous study.


2021 ◽  

Suicide is a serious public health problem surrounded by stigma, myths, and taboos. With an annual average of 81,746 suicide deaths in the period 2010–2014 and an age-adjusted suicide rate of 9.3 per 100,000 population (age-unadjusted rate of 9.6), suicide continues to be a public health problem of great relevance in the Region of the Americas. Contrary to common belief, suicides are preventable with timely, evidence-based, and often low-cost interventions. It is estimated that for each suicide that occurs, there are more than 20 attempts. Suicide can occur at any age and it is the third highest cause of death among young people between the ages of 20 and 24 in the Region of the Americas. This report corresponds to the five-year period between 2010 and 2014. It provides a general description of suicide mortality in the Americas, by subregions and countries. It analyzes the distribution of suicide according to age, sex, and methods used, along with the changes in suicide from 2010 to 2014. This report is limited to the study of mortality as, in most countries, no record of self-harm exists, due to lack of appropriate surveillance systems. In the period 2010–2014, 55.8% of suicide deaths in the Region occurred in North America. The age-adjusted suicide rate was also highest in North America (12.8 per 100,000 population), which along with the non-Hispanic Caribbean (9.8) was higher than the regional rate, while the other two subregions had rates lower than the regional rate (6.7 in Central America, the Hispanic Caribbean, and Mexico; 6.9 in South America). In Latin America and the Caribbean, it is essential that national suicide prevention programs be developed, especially in those countries with higher suicide rates. This report identifies 12 countries in the Region of the Americas with high suicide rates compared with the regional average and where two-thirds of the suicide deaths are concentrated. Strengthening information systems and surveillance of suicidal behavior is required. Improving mortality registries alone is not enough. It is also necessary to develop registries of suicidal behavior and implement follow-up mechanisms in high-risk cases. This report identifies the most frequent suicide methods. The availability of firearms is an important risk factor, particularly in North America. Access to pesticides in rural areas is another risk factor, especially in the non-Hispanic


2021 ◽  
Vol 50 (Supplement_1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Bibha Dhungel ◽  
Anushka Thapa ◽  
Noelia Lucia Martinez-rives ◽  
Pilar Martin ◽  
Koji Wada ◽  
...  

Abstract Background In 2018 the overall suicide rate increased by 33% among students, as a part of a continued trend of rising suicide among adolescents. In 2015, the government of Japan aimed to reduce the overall suicide rate to 13 per 100,000 or less by 2025, but deaths among adolescents have been rising. This study analysed the trends in method-specific suicide among Japanese adolescents from 1979 to 2016 and compared suicide mortality rate in Japan with other OECD countries. Methods We obtained vital statistics data from the Japanese Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare as well as the global health observatory of the WHO. Poisson regression analysis was performed separately by sex with year, age category, suicide method and a 1998 step variable as covariates. Results We found that hanging suicide rates among high school level boys are 12.15 times and girls are 6.17 times the rate of elementary school-aged children. The year 1998 saw a peak in suicide rates by hanging, which increased by more than 60% among both boys and girls. Japan is near the median of OECD suicide rates, with crude suicide mortality rates of 7.8 per 100,000 among 15–19-year-olds in 2016. Conclusions Suicide among adolescents has been rising during the last decades. Several factors related to the school and family environment, and mental health problems may have affected the adolescent suicide rate in Japan Key messages An urgent need is evident to address suicide among high school and university-aged adolescents.


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