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Why is Canada's Suicide Rate Higher


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There was a study a while back that correlated "happiness" with a higher suicide rate. Accordingly, it appears that the happier Canadians commit suicide at a higher rate than Americans, and they have to do it in more creative ways because of firearms restrictions. This is not the expected result given rabid firearms control in Canada.

http://politicalcalculations.blogspot.com/2011/02/us-vs-canada-suicide-edition.html

Happiest places have higher suicide rates

So why do Canadians want to say "Goodbye cruel world" at a higher rate than Americans?

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Makes good sense. Americans believe more strongly than Canadians that theres a magic man in the sky waiting to grant them eternal life in paradise, and suicide is one of the very few things on the list of things that will disqualify them.

Kuwait for example is one of the most religious places on earth...

83 on the religiosity index, and a suicide rate of only 1.9%

The US is 61, and 11.05.

Canada is 49, and 11.65.

Estonian scores the lowest on the religiosity index at 21 and has a whopping 21.40 suicide rate.

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Also, research shows that people are much more successful at killing themselves when they use firearms. As the link shows, firearms are used far less often in Canada for suicde, thanks to stricter gun control. Thankfully, it's easier to botch a hanging than a gunshot to the head. The article draws logically flawed conclusion by saying gun control does nothing. They haven't actually shown how many failed suicides there were. There may have been many more attempted suicides in Canada than in the US.

Edited by cybercoma
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...The article draws logically flawed conclusion by saying gun control does nothing. They haven't actually shown how many failed suicides there were. There may have been many more attempted suicides in Canada than in the US.

No, the article correctly concludes that firearms control in Canada has not stemmed suicides or attempted suicides compared to other nations. Where there is a suicidal will, there is a way.

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The religiosity arguments hold weight as well. Research in the past that compares suicide in Canada to the US found that "Canadians see suicide as being related more to mental illness and as a cry for help, and they more strongly endorse the right to die. Americans see suicide as being related more to religion and moral evil. In particular, Canadian youth see suicide as a more normal way to cope with problems" (Leenaars & Lester, 1995).

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No, the article correctly concludes that firearms control in Canada has not stemmed suicides or attempted suicides compared to other nations. Where there is a suicidal will, there is a way.

No it hasn't. Nowhere in the article did it compare attempted versus completed suicides. In fact, as I mentioned above, it has already been noted by scholars that the suicide rates in Canada have been higher. The fact that the number of suicides have remained the same, which has lead to slight decreases in the rate, while the US rate has actually increased along with the absolute numbers of suicides, would suggest that gun control has indeed had a positive effect. However, we can't be sure or draw any sort of conclusion to that end without comparing attempted vs completed.

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No, the article correctly concludes that firearms control in Canada has not stemmed suicides or attempted suicides compared to other nations. Where there is a suicidal will, there is a way.

Given that the article does not mention an attempted suicide rate for either Canada or the US but focuses on successful suicides I think you need to re-think this claim.

---------------------

Oh, beaten by seconds by CC.....

Edited by msj
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Really? Why's it happening?

Because Americans more strongly believe a magic man in the sky who can make them live forever in paradise as long as they telepathically accept him as their master, will be angry at them if they commit suicide, and will refuse to let them into heaven.

Edited by dre
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Given that the article does not mention an attempted suicide rate for either Canada or the US but focuses on successful suicides I think you need to re-think this claim.

No...I will stand by my claim because of the associated statistic and precursor for "successful" suicides.

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Because Americans mroe strongly bilieve a magic man in the sky who can make them live forever in paradise as long as they telepathically accept him as their master, will be angry at them if they commit suicide, and will refuse to let them into heaven.

This assertion does not correlate with the spike in suicides for Nunavut, where Catholicism, Anglicanism and Pentecostalism are practiced.

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Did too....Canada's rates have actually increased with gun control.

According to the link that you posted Canada's suicide rate in 2000 was 11.7 and 11.0 in 2007. There was a lumpy decline of 0.7 over the period, since the overall number of suicides remained relatively the same.

In the United States your suicide rate climbed from 10.4 in 2000 to 11.5 in 2007 an increase of 1.1 over the same period, largely due to the consistent increase in the suicide rate.

I'm not sure you even know what you're looking at on that page. It seems like you read the absurd claims made by the blogger, who incorrectly analyzed the data, and you ran with it.

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