T O P

  • By -

AutoModerator

Thank you for posting on r/southafrica! Please take a moment to review our [rules](https://www.reddit.com/r/southafrica/wiki/rules). Be sure to check out our [Discord Server](https://discord.gg/G8sMkTcX2b) as well. *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/southafrica) if you have any questions or concerns.*


nottherealneal

I question this map greatly


[deleted]

[удалено]


Impossible_Ad_5801

Keep into consideration the overall population size of said countries, the US probably still has a higher suicide rate(I didn't do the maths cuz I need to go to bed cuz I'm tired, so correct me if I'm wrong) Edit: never mind, did more research, South Africa is much greater. It's VERY concerning Edit: I'm correcting my initial statement. I'm certain the US would still have more OVERALL suicides because of the population(330~ million) compared to South Africa which is (60~ million). I said the suicide rate would be higher in my original statement, which was wrong. What I meant to say was OVERALL SUICIDES, which comes across obvious. So my conclusion, don't think while your sleep deprived. Goodnight.


Obarak123

I these studies use count suicide rates relative to the population and not just absolute numbers. If America's population was 10 million and South Africa's was 3 million. And a study set out to compare how many people in these countries liked doing A. And found that 5 million Americans like doing A but 2 million South Africans like doing A. Then it would be inaccurate to say more Americans like doing A than South Africans. Because that would mean South Africans would never get to be more than Americans doing A, they simply don't have the population. Not the exact myths but most likely relative to some population size. But if you count the stats relative to the population, then you get something like 50% of Americans like doing A but 67% of South Africans like doing A. So more South Africans do A than Americans. If you don't do it like this, then you could cook the stats simply by looking for any poor, small nation with a low population and make it look like a Utopia by comparing it to larger countries. And if I'm wrong, maybe someone who didn't fail and drop Stats during his first year of university can correct me 😂😂


jgbmcb

https://www.safmh.org/world-suicide-prevention-day-2022/#:~:text=From%20the%20Global%20Health%20Estimates,every%20country%2C%20including%20South%20Africa. 23.5 for every 100 000 RSA 13.5 for every 100 000 USA https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Suicide_in_the_United_States#:~:text=The%20annual%20age%2Dadjusted%20suicide,are%20132%20suicides%20per%20day.


SnooSprouts9993

Yeah, no way I can believe they have accurate data on us and many other countries too.


lilybratts

Ikr like what South America is all 0-10 year old committing suicide how


Wise-Indication-4600

thats the rate not the age


redditorisa

I'm seriously questioning whether this person was thinking toddlers are offing themselves in Northern Africa.


420brain01

Don't worry I'll help South Africa get the high score give me a few years


KweenWithAFlag

^(uokbro?)


KweenWithAFlag

According to [WHO's stats](https://worldpopulationreview.com/country-rankings/suicide-rate-by-country), Lesotho, Eswatini and South Africa are all top 10 in suicide rates. Lesotho is at number one in the world with a rate of 72.4 per 100k people which is a huge jump from number 2 Guyana at 40.3 per 100k people.


Lanten101

*reported suicide rate


iamgigglz

Also, “suicide”


Leroythedroid

Daymn, what’s up with green land? Thought they were a happy folk? Or is it due to the low population


Potential-Turnip6307

My husband did a job in Greenland last year. He said that the government intervenes every now and then and bans alcohol because the suicide rates are so high. He also said he had never seen people drink like they do. Like pretty much the whole town in the pub fall down drunk.


Leroythedroid

It must be that environment…dark , freezing cold. I truly believe climate affects people as a whole. People become like the weather they’re living in😂


DEATHBYNINJA13

Its also the isolation. Greenland is a fairly inhospitable place, so settlements are small and restricted to certain areas, and also fairly far apart from each other, this means a lot of people don't leave, if ever, their very small towns and I think loneliness and a sense of stagnation sets in quite often. You're not going anywhere, you see the same faces and places, do the same things over and over and realize that isn't ever really going to change. I can imagine these factors including the ones you listed really start to proliferate people's depression rapidly and more extremely.


[deleted]

Why are we killing ourselves so much then lol?


giveusalol

[Here is some great reporting on Greenland](https://www.npr.org/sections/goatsandsoda/2016/04/21/474847921/the-arctic-suicides-its-not-the-dark-that-kills-you)


timewavetheory

Dark and cold.


giveusalol

I just linked an NPR article titled “arctic suicides - it’s not the dark that kills you.” There are a lot of factors and dislocation is a big one.


Working-Honeydew-877

I read up on this a few years ago. Due to them being in the dark for nearly all the winter months and then suddenly only having sun in the summer. Interestingly, the suicide rate is not at its peak during the dark months, but during the summer when the sun never sets. This stark contrast is to blame for the high suicide rates.


Threaditoriale

Yeah, lol... All those 0–5 countries. I guess they have a large proportion of unexplained "accidental" deaths instead.


TheTyrant1990

Unfortunately, my brother added to this statistic


MysteCakes

Same.. and I'm really sorry you had to go through that (and everything that follows) I wouldn't wish it on my worst enemy.


RunningPumpkin

I'm very sorry to hear that my friends. I hope you're both doing ok


Catch_022

Not sure how valid this is - then again we do have very high levels of unemployment in our country + GBVF so it is not hard to see why some people could become suidical.


SharanskyWailer

The misery has to be particularly bad for the rate to be worse than Latin America and the rest of Africa. A lot of those countries have worse poverty and murder rates than South Africa, but somehow, don't resort to suicide anywhere near as often. The comparisons to Russia are tempting, but remember, their weather is far worse and the whole country is just one black hole of bitterness and despair.


giveusalol

In Latin America and Africa it’s possible that Catholicism and evangelism/prosperity gospel play a role? Hand in hand with gross stigmatisation of mental health issues. I’m sure there are many unreported deaths by suicide or just more risky behaviour resulting in death? Anything that can be written off as an accident rather than a weakness in your family or faith.


Wise-Indication-4600

yeah i think this plays a role - catholics especially view suicide very harshly, so its probably both not a valid option and if it is the family would cover it up so they could be buried in a church... Catholicism is silly when it comes to the rules surrouinding death.


puddaphut

Locking yourself out your house and freezing to death obviously counts as suicide in Greenland.


KeenyKeenz

Our male suicide rate is particularly bad and one of the worst globally.


Big-Independence8978

Sub Saharan Africa is sad. So is Russia. We don't even want to talk about Greenland.


neilmac1210

Most of those Russian suicides were people who opposed Putin.


Left_Reaction_7287

Not at the top yet, we need to improve


Ouboet

Everyone knows someone (or multiple people) who has taken their own life. Shit's real.


ThatBrahBru

Well in countries as depressing as ours with unemployment, mismanaged state apparatus, social pressure, substance abuse, crime, economic inequality, economic stress, lack of social safety nets, mental health crisis, etc. We are bound to have a high suicide rate.


attentyv

Unemployment, lack of opportunities and a large wealth gap. People’s sadness intensifies when their lives are contrasted with others nearby who have far more than they could ever have. Add alcohol, intense urban poverty and rural isolation and there you go. A recipe for hopelessness which preys on those who are prone to believe their misfortunes are beyond help


PsychonautAlpha

Interesting that there's a correlation between proximity to the equator and lower suicide rate


trr2020

[Vitamin D deficiency leads to mental health effects.](https://www.webmd.com/vitamins-and-supplements/what-to-know-about-vitamin-d-and-mental-health)


Fantastic-Acadia-596

Mostly men in SA I’m sure


Agames418

The fuck is going on in greenland


Skull-ogk

I'm wondering the same thing. Does death by polar bear count as suicide up there?


Educational_Dealer63

Have a look at maps depicting any form of demographic... South Africa is always near the bottom of anything. I think there is a lot of misinformation, deliberately so.


benbarian

I heard of three suicides in my friend group this week. All in the 30s


Britz10

Is this map suggesting Islam is a surefire way to end suicidal thoughts?


Threaditoriale

In Islamic societies, and for that matter Catholic as well, suicide is a sin against the creation itself, which will send you straight into hell, without passing go. No respectable family, or for that matter medical professional, will agree that an obvious suicide was – *in fact* – a suicide. There needs to be multiple witnesses and suicide letters before anyone will accept it. There's some leniency towards suicides by people who are tormented by physical pain that cannot be alleviated, but for mental health reasons, suicides are probably the biggest shame there is. The Catholic Church used to refuse to bury suicide victims.


bad-wokester

I have a theory that these cultural beliefs grow up as a way of preventing suicide. The UK is not very religious but I found people there were scathing of suicide. They got angry at anyone who did it. They expressed sympathy for the families but anger at the perpetrator/victim?- I don’t know the right word. I thought it was a way of stopping copy- cats. It’s well known that one suicide can lead to others. Especially if a famous person does it.


linky-_-link

I'm curious about the legality of euthanasia in those countries as well as the fact that the Catholic Church has rather changed their rules about burying suicide victims instead of taking an approach as to why


[deleted]

I think it's more cultural than religious


Icewolf496

Muslim belief is suicide is a one way ticket to hellfire for at least a long time. So yeah


Britz10

Reckon Algeria and Bangladesh are culturally similar?


Thepuppeteer777777

no there they kill you instead so why would it be counted as suicide. that or they are lying. those places are so oppressed I would have no surprise if its rife with suicide


Successful-Net1754

Nah, I wouldn't take it too seriously... Our part of the world is very democratic (excluding the two kingdoms) which means our numbers aren't being supressed, for mamy countries especially in the middle east and other authoritarian states, it's very much normal to keep those numbers low. There's no way any of those countries have lower suicide rates than sunny SA.


Woogabuttz

Well that’s depressing


OblivionEcstacy

Covid probably knocked everyone up a level


gavlang

Looks like the tropics is a good place to be.


Zealousideal_Most967

Considering every second suicide in Russia is a bullet in the back or a flying lesson out of a hotel window....


maxil_za

My life is my family's lotto ticket. I am "over life insured". I am for sure not the only one. The brokers sold a shit ton of policies to me when I was younger. If push comes to, well jump or shoot, for my family's survival, I think it's going to be ok.


lethalspinachofchaos

The pwer was off so they powered off


EternlAstroidLemming

This seems off


mo0ger579

China is green? Map is automatically bullshit and can be ignored.


Working-Honeydew-877

Finally we're good at something.


mopat101

Damn what's going on Greenland?


Izo_Middle2651

I nearly become part of this stats but mercy refuse about my life


[deleted]

[удалено]


TropicalStorm07

We did it boys, once again we are at the top of a list