What's wrong with western culture?

[Az]

JohnT: the same goes for most of the world. It's just that in the western world, everything is much clearer. How about all those "pre-marriage-sex" girls in muslim countries, or the despair in africa?

[Zkribbler]

Western civilization stresses individualism, which usually is a good thing, but it does carry with it the danger of creating isolation. Teens, who are going through the psychological step of pulling away from the parents and families, are at even greater risk. IMHO, feeling of isolation greatly increase the risk of suicide.

In the Phils & other developing countries, there is more emphasis on community and on family and less on individualism.

[Ben Kenobi]

Interesting graph.

Canada seems like one of the best places in the world for women, since the sex ratio for suicides is so skewed.

MikeH:

Depression is exactly that. The brain distorts your world, so that stuff you normally shrug off preoccupies your entire life.

[Lancer]

"In the Phils & other developing countries, there is more emphasis on community and on family and less on individualism."

THAT sounds like it. Though I don't know if I would call it an emphasis over there as much as the natural order of things the the west has lost. It gives kids a foundation western kids don't have. As a culture we're out of balance.

Zkribbler

JohnT, interesting chart, I noticed the Philippines isn't listed, wonder why? They would also fall under the Catholic catagory. The Catholics also teach that suicide is a sin. That life isn't over at death and its worse there if you kill yourself. So, suicide loses its resolution. I think the Catholic thing is the real deal.

[Japher]

I've been quoted in a sig!!! Thanks Obiwan, I thought with all the stupid things I say around here that it would of happened sooner

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Kids these days need to stay on their Ritalin!

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I think the increase (or seeming so) of youth suicides is due to the decrease in familly values brought on by the parents materistic ideals. Ideals that encourage/reward success over attempts, success over love, success over acceptance, success over remorse, and money over success... Possibly started by the children of baby boomers who have never learned to raise their own kids...

[Solly]

"decrease in familly values"

I agree.

[JohnT]

"JohnT, interesting chart, I noticed the Philippines isn't listed, wonder why?"

I looked at a number of sources and found no mention of the Philippines in them either. Imo, this suggests an even more unreliable data source than the one from India and the other countries. Given that they are the 12th largest country* in the world by population, their omission is surprising.

According to one site**, the Philippines suicide rate is an astonishingly low 2.1 per 100,000.

* http://www.census.gov/cgi-bin/ipc/idbrank.pl

** http://web.hhs.se/personal/suzuki/a-...ilippines.html

[Lancer]

See?...

[OneFootInTheGrave]

It is the lack of meaning... food is not meaning, nor is clothes or cars...

[OneFootInTheGrave]

Philipinnes are mostly catholic, so that is where the meaning and lack of suicides are ... peopel still believe in it, even though it might not make sense to us, but it gives purpose to life...

eastern european countries, are the ones with not soo much food, but with religion very weak (or better to say not really believable anymore) after communism, and sucide rates are the highest in the world... I think Hungary in #1 per 1000 of population now or last year...

that is just my 2c

[Lancer]

"It is the lack of meaning... food is not meaning, nor is clothes or cars..."

Sure, those things can be distraction from meaning if they are status.

[OneFootInTheGrave]

I would say they - food, material things etc, can provide focus if you have no reason to live really - you can just focus on this and try to live the best you can, but ultimatley more sccucumb to realisation that all this doesn't make sense, with such understanding of life (focus in material), why bother when it will all end with no purpose anyway, and the current living circumstances are crap anyway with no hope of getting better.

[juhani_kahvi]

This goes off-topic, but catholics sure are able to suicide, although the sin-part makes it more difficult. For example, a depressed catholic might jump from the top of a tall building and have just enought time on the way down to repent. Same might go for hanging or poisoning, if the poison reacts slowly enough.
Just an idea.

[Lord Merciless]

Re: What's wrong with western culture?

Originally posted by 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?

20,000 people commit suicide each year in the US, out of a population of 280,000,000.

30,000 people commit suicide each year in Japan, out of a population of 150,000,000.

250,000 people commit suicide each year in China, out of a population of 1,300,000,000.

So the suicide rate in China and Japan is at least twice as high as in the US, what's wrong with the Western Culture?

[RGBVideo]

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.

You think that's bad? Ever heard of Petri Gerdt, another 19-year old?