Christmas Suicides...

[CatherineM]

There are many suicides that are not reported as such. It can make it difficult to get accurate numbers.

[southern california guy]

[quote name='homeschoolmom' timestamp='1294013256' post='2196004']
Why would you think that?
[/quote]

Because it can be a bit overcast in that part of the country. Plus there's the "Lake Effect" -- you guys get a LOT of snow! It looks like the Rockies though have the highest rate.

[homeschoolmom]

[quote name='southern california guy' timestamp='1294014952' post='2196011']
Because it can be a bit overcast in that part of the country. Plus there's the "Lake Effect" -- you guys get a LOT of snow! It looks like the Rockies though have the highest rate.
[/quote]
Snow doesn't cause suicide.

[MithLuin]

I went to a funeral mass on Christmas Eve. It was a relative who had committed suicide a few days earlier. His father passed away this time last year, and no doubt that was weighing heavily on him...but his own insurmountable problems had caught up with him. As far as I know, it had nothing to do with a girl. He was in his 50s, an out of work artist/actor, alcoholic, and dealing with serious financial difficulties. He had a long-time girlfriend, and she was at the funeral. To my knowledge, she had not threatened to leave him or anything of the sort.

Anyway, suicide is generally a choice made by people who see their world narrowing down until there aren't any other options left. It's not just depression. Depression makes life not much fun, yes. But being suicidal...means that you can't see any path forward. You've hit the end of your line. There is a certain amount of despair in the midst of the (more normal) desperation that goes along with the Vale of Tears [b]Stern[/b] mentioned. A person who commits suicide gives up on themselves (though they might not have given up on God or others).

While it probably isn't uncommon for teenage suicide to be over a failed relationship or failure at school, I think that as people get older, the reasons likely change. Meaning...it's easier to convince an 18 year old that life will go on, and to paint an optimistic view of the future and explain that there are other choices that can be made. For someone who is an adult mired in quite serious problems (long term illness, financial ruin, addictions)...it's harder to shine a ray of light into that life.

If I had to guess which parts of the US had a high suicide rate, I'd pick Hoboken, NJ and Cape Cod, MA. But I made that up. I do know that in the US, white males are the most likely people to have committed suicide, and that firearms are the method of choice. 1/5 use hanging, while 1/5 use poison. More women than men [i]attempt[/i] suicide, though - so they are more likely to survive the attempt it would seem. It's possible that some of these attempts are cries for help with a lower chance of actually being fatal. The use of firearms in a suicide attempt generally means the attempt will be successful.

In 2004, Alaska had the highest suicide rate, while DC had the lowest. The highest actual number of suicides was in California, but it's ranked rather low if you look at the rate (# suicides/100,000 pop.) In 2005, Montana had the highest rate, while DC again remained the lowest (DC's homicide rate, however, is very high.)

Here is a look at the [url=http://realestate.msn.com//slideshow.aspx?cp-documentid=18184152#2]10 unhappiest cities[/url] according to depression and suicide rates and other factors (divorce, cloudy days, crime). The list:

1. Portland, OR
2. St. Louis, MO
3. New Orleans, LA
4. Detroit, MI
5. Cleveland, OH
6. Jacksonville, FL
7. Las Vegas, NV *
8. Nashville, TN
9. Cincinatti, OH
10. Atlanta, GA

*highest suicide rate

[Lil Red]

[quote name='homeschoolmom' timestamp='1294015892' post='2196014']
Snow doesn't cause suicide.
[/quote]
it does cause murder
[img]http://verdoux.files.wordpress.com/2009/06/the-shining-still-1.jpg[/img]

[homeschoolmom]

[quote name='Lil Red' timestamp='1294016146' post='2196017']
it does cause murder
[img]http://verdoux.files.wordpress.com/2009/06/the-shining-still-1.jpg[/img]
[/quote]

[MissScripture]

[quote name='homeschoolmom' timestamp='1294006409' post='2195983']
http://www.snopes.com/holidays/christmas/suicide.asp
[/quote]
I seem to recall having learned that is actually increases after the holidays, because that's when people go back to everyday life and are more apt to forget about other people who might be struggling and there really isn't much to look forward to, but I don't have anything but a vague memory of a high school or college psych class to back that up.

[quote name='MithLuin' timestamp='1294015987' post='2196015']

If I had to guess which parts of the US had a high suicide rate, I'd pick Hoboken, NJ and Cape Cod, MA. But I made that up. I do know that in the US, white males are the most likely people to have committed suicide, and that firearms are the method of choice. 1/5 use hanging, while 1/5 use poison. More women than men [i]attempt[/i] suicide, though - so they are more likely to survive the attempt it would seem. It's possible that some of these attempts are cries for help with a lower chance of actually being fatal. The use of firearms in a suicide attempt generally means the attempt will be successful.

[/quote]
Women also tend to pick less "messy" means of attempting suicide, one thought is that they don't want to leave a mess for anyone else to clean up.

[Ed Normile]

Suicide, what a horrible thread during the holidays. I feel that suicide has a lot to do with dark influences, especially demonic influences. You can not overlook drug or substance abuse, the loss of hope, the lack of direction, the absence or perceived absence of love, and all these things could be attributed to demonic influences. They say the highest rate of suicide is among 15 to 21 year old males, I can not recall a better time of my life and wonder why anyone could even consider suicide at that age. This is a very sad topic, this is a good topic to pray about, pray that God will strengthen any who may be at such a place in their life, that His love will sustain them.

ed