Judy:apparent underreporting and underrecording of suicide in Roman Catholic countries and milieux.
This is true here also. So that individuals can get a Catholic Mass and that they be buried in Catholic cemeteries. Another variable here is that doctors tend to list cause of death as heart stoppage, etc. so that family can get life insurance payment. Many did not pay out if the death is due to suicide. Someone told me recently that some insurance companies have now changed so if the suicide occurs some time after policy is taken out, then they will pay anyway. Another factor is that suicide, being unacceptable mostly, it avoids friends and relatives chattering about who "drove" the victim to it, causing further misery.
Veronica Caley----- Original Message ----- From: "Judith Evans" <judithevans001@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
To: <lit-ideas@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> Sent: Sunday, November 21, 2010 6:56 AM Subject: [lit-ideas] Re: Coyotes, Rabbits and Western self-loathing Lawrence, you say http://www.lawrencehelm.com/2010/11/inaccuracy-of-officially-reported.html >>>>>>>>>>>> These Leftists were interested in whether Europeans might be committing suicide at a greater rate than Americans. It galled them to think this might be true. <<<<<<<<<<<<this leftist (socialist, please) noted apparent factual inaccuracies (perhaps though stemming from different data bases) in Bruce Thornton's
Suicide rates are equally revealing: in many European countries, suicide is the second leading cause of death, after accidents, and France's suicide rate is about twice that of the United States', as are Belgium's, Luxembourg's, Finland's Austria's, and Switzerland. <<<<<<<<<<<<<< I see that in a later post, you say
Whether one obtains greater accuracy by invoking a European or non-European source for European suicide statistics is interesting. Who has the most to gain by misrepresenting these statistics? Thornton used a non-European source. It is apparently well known that accurate suicide statistics are difficult to obtain. Witness this UK problem:"Br J Psychiatry. 1975 Apr;126:301-8. Suicide in Dublin: I. The under-reporting of suicide and the consequences for national statistics.
<<<<<<<<<<Certainly it is well known that suicide stats can be misleading. That Dublin is not in the UK should be noted, as it's possible the "UK" problem here is largely an Irish (Eire) one, and certain that it will not really affect the (relatively low) UK suicide rate. (The issue in this instance, well known among suicide researchers and, I would hope, all sociology students, is apparent underreporting and underrecording of suicide in Roman Catholic countries and milieux. This has been known for decades, if not longer. It is pointed out *by Europeans*. It is for simple reasons of practicality normally ignored when comparative suicide rates are discussed.) The general point holds, the suggestion that "European" stats )WHO stats) are uniquely flawed does not. The suggestion that I quote them for convenience is appalling. I suggest you retract it.
Let me return to
the second leading cause of death, after accidents <<<<<<<<<<this confused me. I'll omit the specific issue of teenage suicide and say that Carol's right, the ranking's not interesting. The number who commit suicide, is. The reasons for that, are. Rising suicide rates (as in the USA) are. That the USA has an above average suicide rate (nih.gov), had even before its rate rose, perhaps is. Etc..
you say
I admit to being opposed to the EU Project. <<<<<<<<<<<<<< irrelevant
I have said as much in previous notes. It didn't surprise me to read Thornton's reference. It would surprise me to learn that this situation is as rosy as official European statistics indicate.
<<<<<<<<<<<< WHO stats. WHO stats used, your reply to me says, *by Thornton*. I used --- On Sun, 21/11/10, Lawrence Helm <lawrencehelm@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote: From: Lawrence Helm <lawrencehelm@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx> Subject: [lit-ideas] Coyotes, Rabbits and Western self-loathing To: "Lit-Ideas" <Lit-Ideas@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> Date: Sunday, 21 November, 2010, 7:42http://www.lawrencehelm.com/2010/11/coyotes-rabbits-and-western-self.html Lawrence
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