What's wrong with western culture?

[Lancer]

In my little town a 19 year old kid killed himself a couple days back. Took a gun and put a bullet through his brain. Here we live in near paradise on the Oregon Coast, small town...yet this kid ends it all. Doesn't happen much here so its big news. I hear other places have much higher suicide rates. In the Philippines there are very few, unheard of, yet so many there are dirt poor, lacking food and clean water...

So, is it drugs or the music or...what? Why does this happen in the wealthy west?

[Solly]

Slow economic growth...

[JohnT]

What makes you think it doesn't happen elsewhere? Why do you think that one kids suicide is symptomatic of a larger cultural disorder, rather than a problem within the child himself?

I would think that suicide rates are so "high" because cholera death rates are so low. Capice?

[Asher]

High expectations.

[Lancer]

Slow growth? In the Philippines they have no growth, and suicide is unheard of.

[TheStinger]

Suicide will be unheard of in the Phillipines because it is very catholic and the famalies of people who commit suicide will cover it up

[Solly]

Increasingly sedentary lifestyles leading to a lack of exercise leading to a lack of endorphins and serotonin in the brain.

[Lancer]

John, the only logical conclusion I can reach from what you wrote is that these kids are killing themselves because there isn't enough cholera in the world.

Asher, high expectations and no foundation maybe. Nothing inside that enables them to ride the setbacks.

[Lancer]

Stinger, maybe. The people there are happier for some reason though. You have to see it to believe it.

Boddington, nice one. I don't buy it though.

[FrustratedPoet]

Originally posted by Lancer
John, the only logical conclusion I can reach from what you wrote is that these kids are killing themselves because there isn't enough cholera in the world.

I think what he meant was that far fewer people might kill themselves in those countries because they're too busy dying of all sorts of other things, like cholera.

[Solly]

Suicide's An Alternative


Sick of people - no ones real
Sick of chicks - they're all *****es
Sick of you - you're to hip
Sick of life - it sucks

Suicide's an alternative

Sick of trying - what's the point
Sick of talking - no one listens
Sick of listening - its all lies
Sick of thinking - just end up confused
Sick of moving - never get nowhere
Sick of myself - don't wanna live
Sick and tired - and no one cares
Sick of life - it sucks

Sick of politics - for the rich
Sick of power - only oppresses
Sick of government - full of tyrants
Sick of school - total brainwash
Sick of music - top 40 sucks
Sick of myself - don't wanna live
Sick and tired - and no one cares
Sick of life - it sucks

Suicide's an alternative

Sick of life - it sucks
Sick and tired - and no one cares
Sick of myself - don't wanna live
Sick of living - I'm gonna die

[JohnT]

No, the thing is that Western kids are killing themselves in such "large" numbers because there's nothing else doing so other than accidents. When you live in a country where your life expectancy is 50, plenty of **** is wasting people left and right, young and old.

According to the NIMH, suicide rates for young people (20-24 years of age seems to be the most likely age) top out at 40 deaths per 100,000... or .04% of the population.

Otoh, suicide is far more of a danger to the elderly, where the suicide rate almost doubles, to 80 deaths per 100,000, or .08% of the population.

http://www.nimh.nih.gov/research/suichart.cfm

[Solly]

Not just a Western problem.

http://www.maoism.org/misc/india/rupe/aspects26_27/peasant_suicides.htm

[JohnT]

Here's a chart showing Suicide statistics, by country, from 1998. Note that the top countries for suicide are actually ex-Communist countries in the Soviet bloc.

http://www.uni-wuerzburg.de/IASR/suicide-figure1.htm

[Q Classic]

there are high suicide rates in skorea and japan, as well.

it might be endemic to developed nations-- kids with everything but are still sad over something. in a less-developed nation, they'd either die earlier or have no choice but to continue living (family burdens come earlier, i suppose)...