Lukashenka made Belarusians a nation of suicides
- 18.07.2008, 8:14
Belarus has reached the world highest suicide rate over the last ten years. The suicide rate is high all over the world, but Belarus has got ahead of other countries. Scientists explain this lurid rise by increase in alcohol drinking, subjective feeling of absence of life prospects, depressive environment and low level of culture.
Sociologist from Gallup Institute showed a relation between a number of suicides and religiosity of society in a recent survey. Gallup Polls from 2005 and 2006 show that countries that are more religious tend to have lower suicide rate, “Nasha Niva” reports.
Gallup Institute included only 67 countries in the survey, as recent suicide data were unavailable for many countries. Results are based on telephone and face-to-face interviews conducted in 2006 with approximately 1,000 adults per country. For all of the countries, confidence intervals for mean Religiosity Index scores were within + 3 percentage points from the national percentages shown here.
Country – suicide rate – religiosity
Belarus – 36.80 – 35
Russia – 36.15 – 28
Kazakhstan– 29.95 – 43
Hungary– 28.45 – 36
Slovenia– 25.90 – 41
Latvia– 25.70 – 32
Ukraine– 25.15 – 37
Japan– 24.20 – 29
Estonia– 21.40 – 21
Belgium– 21.30 – 33
Finland – 20.55 – 36
France– 18.30 – 30
Moldova– 17.25 – 55
Austria– 16.15 – 46
Czech Republic– 15.80 – 26
Uruguay– 15.45 – 34
Denmark– 13.65 –29
Cuba– 13.55 – 36
Sweden– 13.30 – 23
Slovakia– 13.16 – 47
Germany– 13.15 – 37
Romania– 12.75 – 66
Canada– 11.65 – 49
Norway– 11.55 – 29
USA– 11.05 – 61
India–10.75 – 76
Singapore– 10.05 – 68
Ireland – 9.75 – 63
Netherlands– 9.35 – 30
Kyrgyzstan– 9.00 – 48
Argentina– 8.80 – 49
Spain– 8.25 – 32
Italy– 7.25 – 56
United Kingdom– 7.05 – 33
Israel– 6.25 – 44
Uzbekistan– 5.55 – 52
Colombia– 5.30 – 69
Venezuela – 5.10 – 63
Brazil– 4.35 – 69
Greece– 3.20 – 52
Paraguay– 3.05 – 79
Tajikistan– 2.60 – 50
Georgia– 2.25 – 60
Philippines– 2.10 – 79
Kuwait– 1.95 – 83
Armenia – 1.85 – 50
The general conclusions of sociologist can be confirmed by examples of separate regions, including former USSR countries. For instance, the 12 post-Soviet countries show a clear correlation between suicides and religiosity. Most notably, Armenia, Georgia, and Tajikistan have relatively high religiosity scores, especially in comparison with other former Soviet Union countries. All three countries also have low suicide rates.
Gallup Poll reveals that poor countries that are more religious might tend to underreport suicides -- because of subpar medical documentation, or the added social stigma suicide carries in countries that are more religious. However, an analysis focusing only on wealthy countries, where documentation of suicide is likely to be excellent, still reveals a robust association between religiosity and national suicide rates.
Naturally, religiosity is not the only explanation. Suicide rates in Belarus is higher than in less religious and wealthier neighbouring Estonia, Latvia, the Czech Republic and even Russia. Thought it must have been vice versa. The first role here evidently plays a feeling of absence of future prospects, system of personal control, created in the country, and cultural heritage.
Suicide rates are rates per 100,000 residents as tabulated by the World Health Organisation in 2007. Across all countries fro which recent suicide data were available the correlation between religiosity and suicide rates was r (65) = -.64, p 0,01.