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The Highest Suicide Rate in the World

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Re: The Highest Suicide Rate in the World

#51

Post by japhyr »

claudeganon wrote: post #21
endorphone wrote: post #19

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Similar groups in various other arctic locations throughout the globe have abuse and suicide rates that are only marginally lower. Further the greatest number of victims are youth. Living like it's the 1700s only works if you aren't aware that the rest of the world exists. Put youth in very remote locations and teach them that maintaining a lost culture is their most important reason for existing -- but they're aware…

> Living like it's the 1700s only works if you aren't aware that the rest of the world exists. Put youth in very remote locations and teach them that maintaining a lost culture is their most important reason for existing -- but they're aware of a wide world that will embrace them [^1] yet they're told that it reviles them -- and it has to be pretty self-defeating. Add horrendous weather most of the year, harsh condit…

You do not deserve to be downvoted. People live in remote villages for a variety of reasons. Nobody "puts" them there any more than I "put" my son in the town I live in.

GP may have had a better intention with their comment, but the way it was worded is extremely ignorant of what it's actually like to be born into a remote community that has existed for thousands of years.

Re: The Highest Suicide Rate in the World

#52

Post by slothtrop »

japhyr wrote: post #45

The history of alcoholism and suicide in Alaska goes back to the time of first contact with outsiders. When westerners first contacted Alaska Native tribes, those "explorers" tended to be people who were after valuable furs, and missionaries. These people were usually a mix of Russians from the west and Americans from the south. The outsiders brought with them diseases like tuberculosis and influenza, and these disea…

> But this is the root of alcoholism and suicide in Alaska

More accurately, conditions today ripe for alcoholism and suicide may be borne out events following contact. There's similar issues in Canada, Siberia.

Re: The Highest Suicide Rate in the World

#53

Post by slothtrop »

TearsInTheRain wrote: post #47
_yxi6 wrote: post #29

Former Alaskan here. I wasn't shocked to find out Greenland and Nunavut which are also very high north have high suicide rates. The long dark winters can really mess with you after a while which can lead to substance abuse.

I think it is too easy to just make it about the environment. If you read the article it claims the suicide rate wasn't always this high. Something cultural got lost when they transitioned away from their nomadic lifestyle.

Change in culture isn't enough to explain it either. Hunting and trapping culture is still strong in the north. There's not much else going on.

Re: The Highest Suicide Rate in the World

#54

Post by kortilla »

japhyr wrote: post #45

The history of alcoholism and suicide in Alaska goes back to the time of first contact with outsiders. When westerners first contacted Alaska Native tribes, those "explorers" tended to be people who were after valuable furs, and missionaries. These people were usually a mix of Russians from the west and Americans from the south. The outsiders brought with them diseases like tuberculosis and influenza, and these disea…

That’s the lazy “blame the violent colonialists” approach though. There’s a very high suicide rate amongst Greenland natives as well.

Perhaps it’s because so much culture was surrounded around food gathering? Modern technology coming around and wiping out the need for most of your tribe to hunt and gather is going to have a big impact on cultures like that.

Re: The Highest Suicide Rate in the World

#55

Post by bryanlarsen »

whatshisface wrote: post #50
endorphone wrote: post #25

Earlier quoted context omitted.

"I don’t think indigenous people are backward or inherently inferior." Weird that you drop this bizarre and incredibly offensive statement. Countless indigenous people are simply Canadians. They live in cities, have jobs, and are enjoying lives as normal Canadians. Many Canadians have often significant aboriginal ancestry in their blood. People just living as a mixed bag of peoples in one of the richer countries on t…

> No amount of government spending will change that. Why not buy them bus tickets to Ontario? There's some value in preserving cultures as a matter of record, but that's not worth unnecessary suffering to make it happen.

> Why not buy them bus tickets to Ontario?

There are no roads to any of the 25 towns in Nunavut.

Re: The Highest Suicide Rate in the World

#56

Post by slothtrop »

japhyr wrote: post #51
claudeganon wrote: post #21

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Living like it's the 1700s only works if you aren't aware that the rest of the world exists. Put youth in very remote locations and teach them that maintaining a lost culture is their most important reason for existing -- but they're aware of a wide world that will embrace them [^1] yet they're told that it reviles them -- and it has to be pretty self-defeating. Add horrendous weather most of the year, harsh condit…

You do not deserve to be downvoted. People live in remote villages for a variety of reasons. Nobody "puts" them there any more than I "put" my son in the town I live in. GP may have had a better intention with their comment, but the way it was worded is extremely ignorant of what it's actually like to be born into a remote community that has existed for thousands of years.

Yes, in some circumstances, they were put there -- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/High_Arctic_relocation

Reserves did not exist for 1000s of years. The indigenous were nomads, and now are more grounded in territory.

Re: The Highest Suicide Rate in the World

#57

Post by aivisol »

dagw wrote: post #44
ChuckNorris89 wrote: post #24

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I guess Lithuania has he same problem as all the Nordics, dark gloomy weather year round. I wanted to emigrate to Sweden due to the high quality of life but the dark, drizzly, windy weather really put me off and some locals I talked to said they were really depressed by it and were either trying to emigrate or work remotely from Southern Europe. In the Blatics it's probably worse as the economic situational is not po…

I guess Lithuania has he same problem as all the Nordics, dark gloomy weather year round. Except the Nordic countries have a lower suicide rates than the US. The whole high rates of suicide in the Nordics is a myth.

True, however if you look in the European context, Southern countries have lower rates despite having lower standard of living. So the climate cannot be completely ruled out, it is perhaps one of the factors.

Re: The Highest Suicide Rate in the World

#58

Post by daliusd »

wolfgke wrote: post #40
daliusd wrote: post #26

Earlier quoted context omitted.

We have quite nice summers actually here in Lithuania while they become quite hot recently because of climate change. Anyway, weather is not the main cause of suicides.

> Anyway, weather is not the main cause of suicides. What is the main reason then?

It is combination of many factors: starting from economical changes after collapse of Soviet Union and ending with cultural things.

Re: The Highest Suicide Rate in the World

#59

Post by swebs »

wolfgke wrote: post #40
daliusd wrote: post #26

Earlier quoted context omitted.

We have quite nice summers actually here in Lithuania while they become quite hot recently because of climate change. Anyway, weather is not the main cause of suicides.

> Anyway, weather is not the main cause of suicides. What is the main reason then?

I don't know. But if it was weather, then Finland, Sweden, and Estonia would be just as high.

Re: The Highest Suicide Rate in the World

#60

Post by spinach »

CarlosCabrito wrote: post #37

Based on my anecdotal evidence, the major factors that seems to affect regions with high suicide rates are: - Isolation/ lack of community connection: Isolated individuals tend to have less social feedback loops, which impacts their perception of the world around them. - Alcohol and Drug abuse: This can be a byproduct of other areas, as an attempt to help alleviate the perceived suffering, boredom, etc. In my opinion…

But going by the article, "suicide was rare, and among young people, almost unknown" until contact with outsiders. So I don't think it's just isolation.
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