Suicide

For England and Wales the rates were : . . . ..... 66 per million living 1881-85 75 ,, 1891-95 ..... . . . 88 „ 1901-o5 ..... . . . Ioo „ „ „ 1911-14 ..... . • • 99 ,, In the following table the quinquennial suicide rate per million living is given for certain countries from onwards.

The variation in the suicide rate between the various countries for which statistics are available is very great : Chile (1923) 24 per million living Spain (1923) 37 ,, Netherlands (1925) 62 „ Iceland (1925) 63 „ Colombia (1920) 84 „ ,/ Italy (1925) 92 „ 2, Union of South Africa (whites only) (1923) 113 „ 7, /7 England and Wales (1926) . . • ,, Australia (1926) 118 „ United States (1926) . . . . 128 „ „ „ New Zealand (1925) . . . . . 13o „ „ „ Belgium (1922) ..... . 131 „ „ „ Denmark (1925) . . . . . . 136 „ „ Uruguay (1923). . . . . . . 136 „ „ „ France (1925) . . . . . . . 200 „ „ „ Austria (1922) . . . . . . . 228 „ „ „ Germany (1925) . . . . • • Hungary (1922) . . . . . . 275 „ „ „ It has been stated that in any given country suicide is more frequent in the hotter months of the year and one would natu rally conclude that in warmer countries the rate would be higher than in the colder ones. A glance at the above table shows that such is far from being the case. Within the United States the range of the rate from State to State was as great as that shown in the preceding table. The four States with the lowest and with the highest rates in 1925 were :— In the larger cities it ranged from 68 in Cambridge, 72 in Lowell to 296 in Oakland and 388 in San Francisco. In Chicago it was 153, in New York Influence of the World War.—Complete records for the war period do not exist. However, the following figures, relating as they do to nine of the belligerent countries and two non belligerents closely affected by war conditions show beyond any possibility of doubt the profound effect produced upon the suicide rate by the World War. To the theory that nervous strain is one

of the prime causes which lead to self-destruction, they give a com plete and emphatic contradiction—while on the other hand, they furnish the most weighty volume of indirect evidence that, as stated earlier, lack of interest in life itself should be regarded ac one of, if not the, most potent of the factors at work.

The following table shows the suicide rate per I million in the years immediately preceding, during and after the World War : In every case the war-period is marked by a notable decline in the suicide-rate. And, in looking at these figures it must be borne in mind that the men withdrawn from civil life and consequently from the population under statistical review were not at the ages at which suicide becomes most prevalent. Had suicide remained at even the same level amongst the civilian population as before, the general rate would have risen owing to the smaller numbers at ages where suicide is at a lower level. Incidentally, although the fall in the rate was greater among men than among women, the latter did show a quite distinct decline. Here are the rates, by sexes for England and Wales : Thus, while the fall during the war for men was one of 37 per cent, for women it was io per cent. Here, finally are the per centage declines in the general suicide-rate during the years 1915-18 in the eleven countries under review : New Zealand . . . 9 Switzerland . . . . 21 Italy Germany . . • . Japan 10 England and Wales . . 26 United States . . 15 Union of South Africa. . 28 Scotland. . . . 19 Sweden . . . . . 3o Australia . . . 19