NZ and high suicide rates?why?

Question

http://tvnz.co.nz/view/page/425826/1573536

Quote:The current study, published in British Journal of Psychiatry, looked at suicidal behaviours including thoughts of suicide (known medically as suicidal ideation), having a suicide plan, and actually attempting suicide in 84,850 adults.

Suicidal thoughts were most common among New Zealanders, with 15.9 percent having considered suicide, closely followed by the US, with 15.3%. Italians were the least likely to consider suicide (3%), plan to kill themselves (0.7%), or attempt suicide (0.5%). Suicidal behaviours were also relatively rare in China and Nigeria.

Answer 1

There are a lot reasons.

Weather is one. Our climate is cold in the winter and not all that great in the summer (although we have our days). S.A.D. (seasonal effect disorder) effects a lot of people. The weather can play a huge roll on our mood. Especially being a usually active country, if we can't get outside, it is depressing.

Also, NZ is one of the only countries in the world that tests high school students for 3 years. This means that students are put under a lot of stress to do well at high school.

I'm no good with economy, but I know that NZ doesn't pay as well as other countries, and a lot of people are in debit with student loans and other loans, it can become too much.

Going to the doctor here costs a lot compared to other countries. In Australia, under medicare you can visit a doctor and pay nothing. Here, when I go to the doctor is costs $33. Some people can't afford that.

We also have a very strong 'she'll be right' attitude. Also, Kiwi men are often seen as tough, physically and mentally. Men are the highest risk of suicide. Many don't go to the doctor when they feel sick or sad, they think they'll cope.

We also have a high rate of binge drinking. Alcohol is a depressant.

The reasons are endless. I know many people who have committed suicide, each for individual reasons, that I can not possibly comprehend. Although I have been in the position of attempting it, I can't describle how I was feeling.

Kiwi/Aussie Kid- Maybe you should shut your mouth if you don't even know what you're talking about.

EDIT- Princess's answer is very good. I was the same. In 2006 11 teenagers killed themselves from October- December. We asked our school if they could please have some form of education or just someone come in and give out some numbers for hotlines, but the school wouldn't, they said that it'd increase the risk of other pupils killing themselves.

Another thing is that we have a high rate of physical abuse, alcoholism, drug abuse and sexually abuse and rape. These traumatic experiences can lead to suicidal thoughts.

...

Answer 2

Actually, it's a hypothetical situation as the figures for suicides in NZ are never released. They are a State secret.

The Government keeps this information to itself. However, as nearly everyone knows of the deaths by suicide anyway, it's probably quite easy to extrapolate local information to come up with some kind of educated guess.

And it's a guess at how TVNZ, the Journal of Psychiatry and others came up with their figures.

Why it should be--I have no idea, but with our laid-back society, perhaps some people have it too easy and see suicide as the "ultimate challenge".

PS:

I've seen a report that says suicide in China is very high, but the political system sees suicides as a stain on the Party, and, like NZ,  keeps its figures secret.

Answer 3

The suicide I know of is from a lonely confused teen from a broken family, with no hope or support system.....

Adults too, I feel are at risk, if they don't have the communication and support of others....It's a matter of Support Agencies, police and church workers reaching out to the community with programs for the high risk....

Answer 4

The New Zealand suicide rate isn't particulary high by western standards - I lived in the ex soviet bloc which has massively higher suicide rates - but so does France, Austria, Luxembourg, and a whole host of Western European countries.

New Zealand only ranks marginally higher than the United States - and this is self published information that each country submits to the UN

The reality is that a lot of deaths may be suicides but you will never know - it could have also been an accident. It's not a black and white science and this article obviously got its information wrong or they could ask the same thing about nearly every western country, of which even those with lower rates are only marginally lower

Australia has a higher official suicide rate than NZ and as I said so do a whole host of Western countries, like, say Belgium for instance. A better question might be, why does the e soviet bloc and the West have MUCH higher suicide rates than Asia, Africa et al. Or maybe we just have better coroners and are more honest in our reporting

Answer 5

Personally, I think the question is mislabeled. Having a suicidal thought and actually acting out on it are two completely different things.

One might compare it to an angry friend saying "I'm gonna kill him!" about the guy that just spouted a personal secret to his girlfriend. Just because he said it, doesn't mean that he's going to do it.

Having said that, I agree with the above poster, particularly in regard to our Mental Health Services. Having gone through it with my son, it really is a joke. He had a different psychologist every other week due to the inability of DHB's to retain staff, and the wait times were phenomenal.

Answer 6

i cannot explain the figure but i do have a hunch behind the suicide rate. i believe that since NZ has changed it education program in 2004 to pass a school all you had to do was pass a simple exam paper at the end of the year. now the system has changed to credits and throughout the year you have to earn credits. to pass a school year you need 80 credits. some children that go through school dont get the support to get help with their school work and can end up leading to suicide... thats my theory anyways.....also if you get the numbers they should prove right

Answer 7

NZ's suicide rates are available from the Ministry of Health - New Zealand Health Information Service and further quoted by the Ministry of Social Development. So,yes, official statistics are perfectly possible to obtain.

I actually suspect that NZ's suicide rates are slightly higher than advised by these groups however.

I worked for an organisation which used to deal with death certificates and other related issues quite regularly. Coroners (i think coroners - i am willing to be corrected on that however) were very careful about not putting suicide if there was a chance that the death was accidental. Suicide has cultural implications (particularly religious – not going to heaven, not being buried on church grounds etc).

In NZ, it does still tend to get "brushed under the carpet". In fact, in schools, a general policy is to not teach about suicide for fear of scaremongering. I went to high school at a time when a nearby school had a spate (4 or 5) of suicides all committed by friends in a suicide pact. This, while reported in newspapers at the time, never ever became a big feature type article. Put it this way – if a group of teenagers decided to do anything else in a pact (for instance, a pregnancy pact, a ‘drive your car at 200kph’ pact etc etc ) then I think it would be in newspapers, online blogs, television etc etc. But suicide doesn’t receive that kind of prominence.

so, after all that i would say that there is a number of reasons why NZ has a high rate.

1. Possibly our unwillingness to acknowledge suicide as a problem has contributed. I do wonder if this is also something that people my parents age and older are more to blame for that attitude as people my age (28) seem more willing to talk about it. However, while people younger may be willing to talk about it, the older members of our society (ie the people who could help & contribute by providing guidance) are not. That I think is a problem.

2. Mental Illness – we have a high rate of mental illness and, more importantly, undiagnosed and mismanaged mental illness in this country. Serious mental illnesses would possibly get support but it is only within the last few years that issues such as depression, SAD, or the like are even acknowledged.

3. Pressure? Who knows. There are many different answers. I have read  before Wabby’s comment about formalised testing for 3 years in school. I wouldn’t be surprised if it contributes.

Answer 8

When your busy trying to survive then you spend less time considering whether you 'should' survive. Quality of life is more important than length of it. Ask your self the question, do Italians worry more about dying from smoking or driving fast cars than New Zealanders?

Answer 9

im a kiwi when i say this but the trouble is in NZ is the small town minds that inhabit most of the smaller cities in NZ, and this makes life harder in the way of rumors and gossip and kids having hard times at school

Answer 10

First of all the climate in NZ is great, can't beat a kiwi summer!

I have no idea why anyone that lives in this country would want to kill themselves, it's bizzar. Maybe they are a bit spoilt and don't know how lucky they have it. They are selfish and maybe if we sent them to a country that has very little and appriciates live they would soon buck up their ideas! I have NO sympathy for suicide.

NEW Zealand is an awesome, wicked place, just ask anyone who visits. Plus the kiwis are super friendly, I've spent the last 2 years in London and the pomps are a wingy, sad lot and there weather is something much worse than ours.(although I had an awesome time in London city) so we are very very luck to be living in a top country like NZ. Peace. xo

Answer 11

I've always known NZ had one of the highest rates of suicide -especially  amongst youth and I have often wondered what the reason is.

Could it be the climate?

But in that case one would expect Russia to be at the top of the list. Are Russians included in the statistics?

Answer 12

I'm an American from Washington state and think about killing myself all the time maybe if i owned a gun i would

Answer 13

Some former communist places also have high suicide rates.  I've lived in several countries besides NZ, and our climate isn't that miserable.  It's warmer and drier than anywhere in Britain.  Summers are cooler and winter warmer than anywhere in North America.  Even Mediterranean places have harsher winters than we do.  I agree that our culture of non-communication and she'll be right is a likely contributor.  SAD is probably important too.  On the west coast of the South Island you get weeks of cloudy, gloomy weather.  But we're not that far from the Equator.  Our winters are nowhere near as long or dark as Scotland or Scandinavia.  Our obsession with sport, which has a few winners and thousands of losers may be the main cause.  An All  Black or an Olympic gold medallist gets more acclaim here than a decent farmer or somebody who has discovered a cure for all known diseases.  We make heroes of the wrong people.  Of the NZers I've known who've killed themselves, almost all were intelligent, productive people with soluble and fairly minor personal problems.  Usually suicide rates are high in places far from the sea.  Sure enough Hungary, which is landlocked, has a high rate, and in NZ the highest rates are in Hamilton and Palmerston North, which are our only population centres which aren't on the coast.  And the guy who says it's expensive to see a doctor here has a point.  It isn't true that suicide rates here are secret.  Back in about 1974 a law was passed prohibiting the publication of practical details about how suicides were carried out, to prevent copycats.  But the statistics are freely available.

Answer 14

I moved to Australia from NZ 25 years ago - if I still  lived in NZ, I WOULD want to kill myself!!

Answer 15

We in New Zealand are an odd bunch, we put huge amounts of pressure on those around us to excel, and then knock them down when they do.

We do not express emotion openly preferring to Bull S**t than be honest about how we feel.

Mental illness is kept behind closed doors almost as though there is shame attached to it.

That sort of sums it up really.

Answer 16

My friend has commited suicide and you know what? SUCKED IN. The sooner people realise that kiling yourself is not the answer, the better. Wabby, im sorry but you are a looser for trying to kill yourself