Hacker News new | ask | show | jobs
by themafia 59 days ago
A fact I've noticed is that suicide rates are higher in areas with lower population density. For example, Alaska's suicide rate is 4x what New York's rate is.

Perhaps just human connection, even momentarily, is enough to break the pattern of behavior that has lead to the ideation.

Also worth noting that suicide rates among the elderly are higher than they are for anyone other than teens. If you have someone you love that doesn't get out much, make sure you give them a call now and again.
2 comments
pibaker 59 days ago
The more likely explanation is guns. Gun ownership tends to be higher in rural areas because of a mixture of culture, politics, utility and laws. Only 14% of adults in New York State have guns compared to 59% in Alaska. Having a quick, easy and painless way to end your life right on your nightstand makes it a lot more likely that a bolt of suicidal urges turn into action.

https://www.rand.org/research/gun-policy/gun-ownership.html

link
themafia 59 days ago
Then overlay a map of gun ownership rates over the suicide rates and see if you see the same correlation.

This isn't an intuitive point. There's actual data showing the correlation I've described.

Something you'll also want to explain is why the suicide rate for teens is 3x higher than for adults and why elderly is 2x higher than adults. Or why more than 1/3 of suicides don't involve a gun at all. Or why Japan's suicide rate is so much higher despite having no gun ownership rights.

link
euleriancon 59 days ago
An alternative explanation is that cold places with long winters are depressing, and because they are depressing fewer people want to live there.

Alaskan winters are hard regardless of how many friends you have.

link
themafia 59 days ago
If you take a chart of population density, and overlay the chart of suicide rate, you'll see an exceedingly strong correlation. It does not follow weather patterns. Utah has 3x the problem relative to California, for example.
link
jeffbee 59 days ago
Yeah if you go to CDC WISQARS you can do fatal injury reports filtered by intent (suicide) and aggregated by urban/non urban geography. These differences are not small, they vary by factors or orders of magnitude in every state. It's not the weather.
link