Pet Peeve: Folks Who Don't Do Basic Research -- Simply Repeat The Memes -- January 8, 2023

Updates

Later, 10: 53 p.m. CT: Finland, link here.

Original Post

Metal bands and happy countries: link here.

Suicide rates by country, 2023: link here. Also, at wiki. (Sources vary slightly.)

Countries with the Highest Suicide Rates 

In 2019, the ten countries with the highest suicide rates (number of suicides per 100k) were:

1. Lesotho - 72.4
2. Guyana - 40.3
3. Eswatini - 29.4
4. South Korea - 28.6
5. Kiribati - 28.3
6. Federated States of Micronesia - 28.2
7. Lithuania - 26.1
8. Suriname - 25.4
9. Russia - 25.1
10. South Africa - 23.5. 

The only western European nation with an exceptionally high suicide rate is Belgium, which ranks at number eleven with 18.3 suicides per 100k. 

However, it is worth noting that Belgium has some of the world's most liberal laws on doctor-assisted suicide, also known as euthanasia, which is likely to be a factor in its statistics. 

Countries with the Lowest Suicide Rates 

Perhaps surprisingly, many of the most troubled nations in the world have comparatively low suicide rates.

• Afghanistan has 4.1 suicides per 100k;
• Iraq has 3.6, and Syria has just 2.0. 

It is not clear if the suicide statistics for these countries reflect suicides committed due to mental health problems and terminal illnesses (which are the primary reasons for suicide in most of the world) or include suicides committed as part of the ongoing conflicts in these countries. 

The world's lowest suicide rates are in the following countries:

• Antigua and Barbuda - 0.4
• Barbados - 0.6
• Grenada - 0.7
• Saint Vincent and the Grenadines - 1.0
• Sao Tome and Principe - 1.5
• Jordan - 1.6
• Syria - 2.0
• Venezuela - 2.1
• Honduras - 2.1
• Philippines - 2.2

Suicide in Sweden 

In 2019, Sweden had 14.7 suicides per 100,000 people.

Historically, Sweden has had a high suicide rate, with the most suicides in the developed world during the 1960s.

That may have been due, at least in part, to cultural attitudes regarding suicide and long, dark winters, particularly in the northern regions

The government responded to the crisis with social welfare and mental health services, and the numbers have dropped dramatically.

Today, Scandinavian countries – Norway, Sweden, Denmark, and Finland – have very high happiness rates and relatively low suicide rates.

However, the dark winters – 20 hours of darkness or more in each day in some areas – causes seasonal affective disorder (SAD), a form of depression, which has been known to correlate with higher rates of suicide.

Euthanasia, or physician-assisted suicide, is still illegal in Sweden but is accepted in some instances. A physician may not administer lethal drugs to a terminally ill patient, but he or she may end life support of the patient requests doing so and demonstrates that they understand the consequences. This form of physician-assisted suicide, known as passive euthanasia, is not included in suicide statistics. Active euthanasia, when a physician administers lethal drugs to a terminally ill patient with the patient and family's consent, may soon become legal in Sweden, as it is becoming more accepted in European countries.