[bumby]

I was initially surprised to see the relatively high rates in the early part of the 20th century. Some of these seem intuitively obvious, like the higher rates during the Great Depression.

What's even more interesting is how suicide rates go down during WW1 and WW2. Sebastian Junger spoke about this in his book "Tribe" where he cites lower psychological disorders in Great Britain at the height of V2 bombing which then increased again after the war. I think his thesis was war created an increased sense of camaraderie/solidarity and sense of purpose. It was a really interesting, quick read.

[sandworm101]

The suicide rate always dips after wars, at least historical wars. Wars, again speaking historically. reduced the male population. After the war, surviving males easily find mates and settle into stable homes, resulting in baby booms. It doesn't take much. A change of a few percentage points can radically change the dating scene.

I have read about this trend in smaller societies. It has been implicated in the 80s/90s aids crisis in US black communities. A substantial percentage of 20-30yo black males were jailed during the drug war. Those males not in jail found dating far easier. Females had to compete for the artificially reduced number of males. This lead to reduced condom use, accelerating the heterosexual spread of aids in these communities. Also, a baby boom. Changing the male/female ratio in an extremely powerful driver of change.

[bumby]

I think what you're referring to may be different. If you look at the data in the initial graph, suicide rate increases after both WW1 and WW2. It actually went down __during__ the wars and not after, which falls more in line with Junger's book.

[Dumblydorr]

Epidemiology was in its infancy during that time period, I wouldn't compare or analyze those rates too closely. This is during the time of Freudian hogwash, before DSM, before knowledge of genetics or any current understanding of neurophysiology. Cultural awareness of psychology has also changed vastly, and broader awareness leads to broader diagnosis in many disorders.

[joe_the_user]

The interesting thing about early 20th century is the wild swings in the suicide rate, a much more extreme series of swings than any time later. It seems like an indication that during that time, some greater degree of "contagion" was going on relative to later time (not sure from what). Another factor might be spottier records and a smaller population. The suicides from the 1929 stock crash were fodder for much literature and the seems to show an increase up to 1929 and then a steep decrease.

I know that during the 19th century, Goethe's "The Sorrows Of Young Werther"[1] was reputed to have provoked a rash of suicides.

[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Sorrows_of_Young_Werther

[DanBC]

Looking at historical rates of suicide is really hard because it was still a crime in many places, and there was strong social convention to not name something as suicide unless the evidence was overwhelming.

In England the law changed in 1961, but coroners still had to use "beyond all reasonable doubt" to come to a conclusion of suicide until 2018. There was a case (Maughan) that changed the burden of proof to "balance of probabilities".

https://www.bailii.org/ew/cases/EWCA/Civ/2019/809.html

https://www.bailii.org/ew/cases/EWHC/Admin/2018/1955.html

In the US you have the added complexity of different laws for each state, with different standards that coroners work to. Getting coroners to work to common standards is notoriously difficult.