re: Suicide rises to 11th leading cause of death in the US in 2021

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It’s really mind boggling to me at how high the suicide rate is in this country. There’s never been a country where you had as much freedom and opportunity to succeed as you do in this one. Life has never been better for a society as it is in this one. Majority of us are spoiled and don’t know real struggle. So why do so many people commit suicide?

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The U.S. is ranked 31st. South Africa has an absurd suicide rate. South Korea, Latvia, Lithuania and Russia all have a rate higher than ours. Belgium and Finland have a rate slightly lower but comparable. Sweden is lower than Belgium and Finland, but still higher than wonderful countries like Niger, Cuba and Kenya. (Interestingly, Sweden's rate is much higher than neighboring Denmark).

Jamaica has one of the lowest rates in the world. Everyone there smokes weed, listens to Marley and relaxes I guess.

But my point is that it happens everywhere. The main cause, without a doubt, is mental illness. Bipolar has the highest rate of suicide of all mental illnesses. About 15% of bipolar people commit suicide. Then depression and other disorders aren't too far behind.

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Isolation and lost hope caused by the China virus overreaction

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Lol

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We need to trans more kids to fix this

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Poor trans kids can’t show their true selves…..as pre-teens.

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Just saying, things like deductibles, medical debt, student loans, and multiple mass shootings a week do not exist in many developed democracies.

And we allow/have all these things because “freedom”.

Make it make sense.

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is this why countries like Japan and Sweden have higher suicide rates?

The world around us sucks. Not only does it suck, but it’s difficult to escape the news which reminds you every day how much it sucks and how it sucks more and more with each passing day.

I think a lot of people feel hopelessness in their lives, and the world around them only makes it worse. I get it, because I’ve been there. Some days I go back to that place. Social media has its good aspects, but it’s incredibly bad for a person’s psyche, too.

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It’s also worth noting, men tend to select more fatal means when attempting (like firearm, hanging) so they almost always statistically have a higher number of actual suicides versus attempts to women who utilize means that may not be as fatal (like pills, cutting).

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Yeah, I was surprised by how few old people committed suicide on the chart. Way, way below younger cohorts. You would think old people who are broke, isolated or diagnosed with terminal illness would just throw in the towel. But I suspect a lot of those suicides are just chalked up to old age or cancer or whatever. On no, Grandpa was found dead in his bed after his eviction notice and cancer diagnosis. Now lets just ignore the empty bill bottle on the nightstand.

Do any of y’all think that maybe our societies in the West are “too smart” for our own good kind of thing? Like we took a bite into the fruit of knowledge. More poor and simple nations don’t seem to have high suicide rates and I’ve always noticed how the mindsets of people from these countries are different than ours. Maybe we think too much or something.

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is this why countries like Japan and Sweden have higher suicide rates?

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I have no idea. I was more challenging the idea that we are the “most free” country in the world, as if there aren’t built-in systematic hardships for profit in our system.

I don’t think he was 100% off when it comes to the financial aspects. Especially medical debt.

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Do any of y’all think that maybe our societies in the West are “too smart” for our own good kind of thing? Like we took a bite into the fruit of knowledge. More poor and simple nations don’t seem to have high suicide rates and I’ve always noticed how the mindsets of people from these countries are different than ours. Maybe we think too much or something.

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Less stress in poor countries. You just sit around all day and chill in your hut. Not much responsibility beyond just carrying out the basic necessities of life.

In the 1st world we have loans, debts, houses, cars, mortgages, kids in college, stressful jobs, etc. And we also feel we must "keep up" with what other people are doing financially. In a poor country, there is none of this stress. Everyone is equally poor and just sits around and chills.